Monday, November 13, 2006
73-7
Potential of the Annual Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) as a Forage Crop for the Southeastern USA.
Robert Myer, Ann Blount, Barry Tillman, and Dan Gorbet. University Of Florida, "Nfrec, 3925 Highway 71", Marianna, FL 32446, United States of America
A three-year RCB design small plot non-irrigated trial was conducted to evaluate forage production of 16 cultivars, breeding lines and plant introductions of annual peanut (Arachis hypogaea). The plots were planted in May (2002) of the first year, and for the subsequent second and third years, plants emerged from seed (re-seeded) from the previous years’ crop. Forage was clipped in early August for yr 1 and during late July for yr 2 and 3. All entries were selected for resistance to leafspot, since most current foliar fungicides are not labeled for use in peanuts grown as forage. Forage DM yield was affected by year (P<0.01) and genotype (P=0.03). Overall, average DM yield was highest for yr 1 (5027 kg ha-1: SE = 115), and declined for yr 2 (3662 kg ha-1) and yr 3 (3434 kg ha-1). There was no genotype by year interaction. The highest yielding annual peanut was with a plant introduction (‘Pitman’ PI 476156; 4595 kg ha-1 yr-1) and second highest yielding peanut was commercial variety ‘C-99R’ (4491 kg ha-1 yr-1). Although a decline in yield occurred after the first season, annual peanut has some potential as a high-quality, short-term, reseeding forage crop for the southeastern USA .