Major reasons for low peanut yield in India are the use of low yield potential varieties, maintenance of inadequate plant population, poor soil fertility and water management. Peanut perform better in terms of yield and quality when good cultivar sown under optimum plant density coupled with efficient nutrient and water management. Several studies indicated that proper crop geometry facilitates sufficient interception of sunlight and satisfactory absorption of nutrients and water from the soil due to proper development of root system. Groundnut being a leguminous crop, it is capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen by the root nodule bacteria. Application of nitrogenous fertilizer at lower doses would be sufficient and also, application of phosphorus and potassium in adequate quantities become more essential for obtaining higher yields. Several workers have shown that adoption of an improved variety alone can increase the yield by about 20 per cent. There are reports that application of gypsum to peanut increased the seedling vigour, seed yield and quality by altering the soil physical characteristics.
Agronomic management, Peanut production
