Summer Cropping Groundnuts in North Bihar

Summary

A field experiment was conducted to see if a successful crop of groundnuts can be raised in North Bihar (India) during summer in rotation with paddy. The experiment was designed to find a suitable variety, and the best time of sowing and digging. Three promising varieties of groundnut, one early-bunch and two late-spreading types, were included in the test. Emergence and flowering were rapid in the early-bunch variety as compared to the two late-spreading varieties. Though flowering was less in the bunch variety, the percentage of mature kernels was higher. The earlier the sowing and the later the digging, the greater was the pod yield in all cases. On the basis of these results and other practical considerations, the best combination seems to be to sow the early variety AK 12-24A about 15 January and to dig about 22 June.