India ranks third in oilseed production and first in groundnut. In india, groundnut occupies 40% of area under oilseeds. It contains 47-53 % oil and 26% protein. In tamil nadu, cultivated around 6.19 lakh hectres with the production of 10.98 lakh tonnes. In this 70% under rainfed cultivation and remaining 30% under irrigated condition. Southern districts such as Madurai, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai districts groundnut was cultivated in 56163 hectares. Out of this 84% in dryland cultivation.

Land preparation :

• Sandy loam, red soil and black silt lands suitable for the cultivation of groundnut. Ploughing after disc plough 3 to 4 times with country plough or iron until broken the clods. Plough with country plough at a distance of 50 cm in one direction and opposite direction in next time. This should be done once in a three year.
• During the summer, well plough the land and it is necessary to remove the weeds. By doing this, the rain water stored in the soil on receipt of summer rain or Sunhemp crops sown with use of summer rain and incorporated to the soil at flowering stage with the help of rotavator. This will keep the land ready for mechanical sowing on receipt of seasonal rain.
• In red soil, groundnut production affected by top soil hardening.
• Rectification of top soil hardening by application of 2 tonnes of lime stone and 12.5 tonnes of compost or decomposed coir waste can be added to the soil at time of last ploughing.
• Break the sub soil hard pan with chisel ploughing once in a three year.

Selection of varieties : While choosing high yielding varieties for dryland also it should have drought tolerance and pest and disease tolerant nature. TMV Varieties released by oilseeds research station Tindivanam

TMV 7 :

• This variety is widely cultivated across Tamil Nadu for the past 44 years.
• Drought tolerant bunch type and yields in 105 days.
• Back side of the pods look like camel’s back with this demarcation the variety can be easily identified.
• It is suitable for rainfed and irrigated cultivation.
• It had 74% shelling percentage and 49.6% oil content.

TMV 13 :

• It has red seeded and rich in oil content.
• Duration- 105 days.
• Tolerant to drought which occur during maturation.
• Under dryland situation it yields about 1613 kg/ha.
• Virudhachalam Regional research station released VRI varieties

VRI 2 :

• Leaves of this variety are in circular shape and bent backwards in ash green colour.
• The pods are bigger in size with prominent nose, a slightly deeper seed space and larger seeds.
• Leaves are green until harvest time, it is suitable for fodder.
• The shelling percentage is 75% and oil content is 48%.
• Duration - 165 days.
• It yields 1790 kg/ha.

VRI 3 :

• Bunch type and yields in 95 days.
• Pods are in small size with 75% shelling percentage oil content is 49.5%.
• It is suitable october rainfed cultivation.
• Yield – 1670 kg/ha.

• This variety has drought tolerant and suitable for entire Tamil Nadu for sandy and red lateritic soils under both irrigated and rainfed cultivation.
• It matures in 105 days and yields 1916 kg/ha.
• Small seeded and 50% oil content.
• Medium tolerant to rust, leaf spot and bud rot disease.

Spacing : Row to row spacing is 30 cm with the plant spacing of 10 cm. red and lateritic soils of dryland where sown with seed drill would reduce the seed rate and complete the sowing 4 acres/day and it is helpful during labour scarcity period. Thus significantly reducing the labour cost. Maintains right spacing. By doing this, suitable for weed management and uniform crop growth is obtained due to mechanized dowing.

Seed rate and seed treatment : seed rate @ of 50 kg/acre is found to be sufficient. With the seed drill sowing 40 kg seed is sufficient. We need to make the seed treatment before sowing. Pseudomonas 10 g and Trichoderma 4 g treated with per kg of seed and each one pocket of Rhizobium and phosphobacteria mixed with filtered water and then dried in air. By doing this, pest and disease resistance increases with increased seed germination. for higher yield, fix the atmospheric nitrogen, mobilize soil phosphorus biofertilizer seed treatment is necessary. Seed treatment should be done very carefully, because in the event of damage to the seed coat, the seed germination get affected. Without seed treatment, Rhizobium 4 packets per acre (800 g) and PSB 4 packets (800 g) mixed with 10 kg of sand and farmyard manure and to be applied before sowing.

Integrated Nutrient Management : before sowing, basal application of 5 to 10 tonnes of organic manures like compost or decomposed coir waste or vermicompost has to be applied and then sow the seeds. Nitrogen 4 kg/ acre (9-kg urea), 4 kg of phosphate (25 kg super phosphate) and 18 kg of ash (30 kg potash) to be applied as basal nutrient. In groundnut phosphorus fertilization is important major nutrint for uniform growth and bold seeds. Red and lateritic soils phosphorus fixed with iron and aluminum ions. Because of this it is unavailable to plants. To rectify this, phosphate 4 kg/acre (25 kg super phosphate) mixed with 300 kg of farmyard manure and kept for 30 days and applied as enriched farm yard manure. This will helps in avoiding fixation of phosphate in soil and made available to plants.

Bio Fertilization : Basal application of Rhizobium and phosphobacteria @ 4 packets per acre will ensure balanced supply of nitrogen and phosphorus to the groundnut.

Micronutrient :

Most of red and red lateritic soils in Tamil Nadu are deficit in Zinc and Boron and rich in iron was not available to crop and resulted significant reduction in yield. Further, seeds available to the humans were deficit in these micronutrients will cause iron and zinc deficiency in human beings.

To rectify this, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University develpoed micronutrient mixture @ 3 kg/ acre or from the Department of Agriculture released Nadu micronutrient mixture @ 5 kg/acre can be applied before sowing. This will enhance the flowering, fruiting capacity and soil fertility can also be preserved.

Gypsum application : For one acre 160 kg applied at 30-45 days after sowing in the sides of the depending upon moisture of the soil. Stir the soil, apply gypsum and earthing up should be done. Application of gypsum those soils deficient in calcium and sulphur yields good benefits. Basal application of half the amount of gypsum with chemical fertilizers reduced the sub surface hardening in red and lateritic soils and improves water holding capacity. And also reduce nematode damage and rust infestation.

Foliar Fertilization : Mostly groundnut produce more number of flowers out of this 35-50% flowers only converted into pods. The rest of the flowers drop off. If avoid flower dropping the yield can be increased by 10-15 per cent. To reduce the flower dropping and more pod setting,Tamil Nadu Agricultural University release of groundnut rich @ 2.25 kg/acre in 200 liters of water sprayed at flowering time and increase drought tolerance.

Things to note :

• Plants should be wetted..
• Spray in the morning or evening.
• Apply the correct quantity with hand sprayer.
• Use good quality water to prepare the mixture.
• Do not mix with pest and disease chemicals.

drought tolerant techniques :

• Putting coir pith compost 5 tons per acre, increase soil water holding capacity.
• Further, 0.5 percent of the potassium chloride solution i.e 5 g per 1 liter of water to produce the required quantity of potassium chloride sprayed on flowering and fruit formation stage.

Red hairy caterpillar :

• Before the summer rains collect and destroy the soil pupae by exposing them into light.
• After sowing of rainfed crops and rain to keep the light or fire to monitor the adults.
• If red gram and cowpea planted as intercrops Juvenile worms infested glass like leaves are to be destroyed.
• Collect and destroy the eggs were laid in crops.
• During the periods of high intensities of 30 cm depth and 25 cm width pits were formed around the fields to prevent the movement of worm.
• It was controlled by Quinolphos 2.5 ml and NPV (300 larvae are obtained from soaked virus infested) and 100 ml adjuvant or tryton mixed with 150 litres of water and spray in the evenings.

Army worm or cut worm :

• Castor crop grown around groundnut field as bund crop or inter crop and monitor the movement of adult and reduce the infestation.
• Light trap or pheromone traps to monitor moth coming out from the field.
• Collect and destroy egg masses.
• Castor, cowpea and groundnut leaves seeming like the glass collect and destroy the larvae in leaves.
• control the army worm by spraying Spinosad 0.4 ml or Profenophos 2 ml mixed with water and then sprayed.
• Prepare poison bait required for one acre. Rice bran 5 kg, 0.5 kg of jaggery and carbaryl (50 per cent) wettable powder 0.5 kg add these three in required amount of water (3 liters) and make small balls. Put the balls around the field bund and in holes attract the larvae and destroy the same.
• NPV 200 ml/acre with Jaggery (1 kg/acre) and teepol (100 ml/acre) and added in 150 litres of water and has to be sprayed in the evening.

Hopper, Thrips and Aphid :

• Cowpea and groundnut are intercropped with the ratio of 14.
• To control these pests imidacloprid 0.4 ml or Acephate @ 1 g in 1 litre of water can be sprayed.

Leaf miner :

• From 8 pm to 11 keep the light traps and collect leaf miner adults and destroy.
• Chemical control with spraying of spinosad 0.4 ml or Imidacloprid 0.4 ml or dimethoate 2 ml in litre of water and is to be sprayed.

Diseases affecting groundnut :

• Important diseases affecting groundnut are root rot, rust and leaf spot.

Rust :

• Mancozeb 400 g/ acre or chlorothalanil 400 g/acre or Trydimarp 200 g/acre can be sprayed at 15 days interval based on severity of the disease.

Early leaf spot and late leaf spot :

• Carbendazim 200 g / acre or 400 g Mancozeb /acre or chlorothalinil 400 g/acre can be sprayed. If necessary spray can be repeated at 10 days interval.

Rust and leaf spot disease :

• Carbendazim 200 g/ acre or 400 g Mancozeb/acre or 400 g of chlorothalanil/acre. Spray once again if necessary after 15 days.

Root rot disease :

• Biological control: Pseudomonas fluorescence @ 1kg mixed with 20 kg of well decomposed farmyard manure or with sand can be applied to the soil.
• Places where appearance fungal infection carbendazim @ 1g in 1 litre of water can be sprayed. Seed treatment with proponosol @ 2g /kg of seed treated before sowing

Drying of matured leaves and yellowing of top leaves is an indication of maturity. Monitor the crop duration. A few plants have to be plucked and shell is removed. Brownish black color in the interior of the shell indicates the state of maturity. Before harvesting field should be irrigated. Irrigated field helps easy harvesting. If sufficient moisture in the soil before harvest there is no need to irrigate the field.

There is lack of water for pre harvest irrigation with the use of country plough pluck the plants and remove the pods with manual labours.

The uprooted plants should not kept as heap. Because of wetness the bunch type variety started germination. To remove the pods from the plant sheller can be used.

The pods are the sun dried for four to five days. Drying for 2 to 3 days helps complete drying of pods. When the temperature is hot avoid direct sun drying. Groundnut pods are stored in gunny bags and kept in sandshore. Avoid dried pods in contact with moisture. The above high technologies adopted under dryland condition to get higher yield.

Mechanization in dryland groundnut cultivation :

In dryland cultivation reduction of expenses is more important than increasing yield. In the case of groundnuts, separation of seeds, sowing, removing of pods from the plants require more workers. To avoid this, use the following machines to reduce labour costs.

1. Manual operated decorticator
2. Groundnut seed drill
3. Groundnut shelling machine

Groundnut decortication:

Groundnut sowing :

Groundnut shelling :

By using above machine will have a minimum net profit of Rs 2,000, breaking of groundnut pods in right time, sowing, separating and drying can be completed on time and then stored. The labour scarcity was simply managed.

Source :

Professor and Head, Dryland Agriculture Research Station, TNAU, Coimbatore - 3.