By Fatima Muraina
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Groundnut is a nutritious edible seed and a source of healthy oil profitable for farming business.
Best Soil For Groundnut Farming
The normal pH level requires should be within the ranges of 6.5- 7.0.
Groundnuts need sufficient soil that is rich in organic matters, which is high fertility soil with sufficient moisture to grow perfectly. Land Preparation
Proper cleaning of the land makes the crop to grow well without having any unnecessary interference that will limit its growth and yield. Other series of operations involved in land preparation aside land clearing are plowing, harrowing and ridging.
Sowing Time
The best time for planting groundnut is around May -June, so it is important to get the land ready before then. Also, get a good groundnut seed because what you actually put in the soil will determine your yield.
Groundnut sowing kicks off in the raining season during the onset of the rainfall. This is usually in the third week of June.
Seed Preparation
Firstly, before you start putting the groundnut seed in the soil you have to prepare and map out the direction and number of rows in length and width. Also, get prepared the seeds manure package for each row.
Again, select the well-filled groundnut pods and remove the seeds from their shells at least one week before the sowing time. The bold kernels are mostly preferred to the smaller ones because the plants produced from them are found greater.
Treating the seeds
Treatment us necessary to protect them from certain diseases that may be present in the soil. Seed treatment helps to control pathogens such as rhizobia: gram-negative diazotrophic bacteria that cause harm inside the root nodules of leguminous plants in the soil. Preventive measures such as coating the seedlings with fungicides such as bavistin or thiram in moderated quantity to help fight against seedling diseases 8s very necessary.
Seed Spacing
Spacing in groundnut seed sowing depends on the variety Virginia, Spanish or Valencia (runner or bunch), the mass of the seed and the rate of germination of the seed lot.
The seeds are sown to a depth of 5 to 8 cm or 5 to 6cm at a seed rate of 40-50kg per hectare in the soil.
It is advisable to use organic manure such as animal manure or well-decomposed farmyard manure .
Disease Control
Be on the lookout and procure the necessary pest control and diseases control chemicals or better using a natural way to control and manage it.
Weeding And Weed Control.
Groundnut farms should be weeded within a period of 3 to 6 weeks after sowing. Mature weeds are associated with much seed damage which occurs during the first 45 days of the plant growth.
It is advisable to weed the farm as ofjustten as possible within the initial 6 weeks and weeding should stop once leaves start appearing from the seeds.
Harvesting
Harvesting of groundnuts is a few months away from when it was cultivated. It takes 4 to 5 months to say 120 to 150 days for groundnut to mature though it still depends on the variety of groundnuts planted.
Once you notice fall-off and brownish color in the lower leaves, harvesting should kick-off immediately.
Processing And Storage
After harvesting the groundnut, they should be spread under the sun for a few days (say 2 or 3) to dry properly before removing the nuts from the shell.
They can be stored in rhombus or silos which is a pit made on a farm mainly used in storing grains