After successful completion of this Lesson, you have learned to answer:

1
Module VIII Seeds and Sowing
Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics
Lesson 1 Seeds and Seed Preparation

• After successful completion of this Lesson, you
  have learned to answer
• What is the foremost prerequisite for a healthy
  groundnut crop?
• How you can identify the seeds of bunch and
  spreading types of groundnut?
• How do you select groundnut seed for sowing?
• What happens when you sow split seeds due to
  improperly using a groundnut sheller?
• What seed treatment is practiced in groundnut
  before the seeds are sown?

Course on Groundnut Production Practices
2

• After successful completion of this lesson, you
  have learned to answer
• Under what circumstances groundnut seeds need
  treatment with Rhizobium culture?
• Describe the procedure for groundnut seed
  inoculation with Rhizobium culture?
• How do you manage if both seed inoculation with
  Rhizobium culture and seed treatment for soil
  borne diseases are required before sowing
  groundnut seeds?

3
The cultivated groundnut fall into three groups,
in respect of the habit of growth, namely bunch
(Spanish), semi-spreading (Virginia bunch) and
spreading (Virginia runner). In the bunch group,
the seeds are round, plump non-dormant with
light-rose testa. In the semi-spreading and
spreading varieties, the seeds are oblong,
brownish and have dormancy.
4
A healthy crop with good yields starts with the
use of well selected seeds for sowing. The
foremost reason for low yields in groundnut is
due to low crop stand in the field due to the use
of bad seed material. To get the required plant
stand, well developed groundnut pods are selected
at the time of harvesting. Such pods are stored
in a well ventilated with low moisture
conditions.
5
Healthy and well-developed pods are shelled by
hand or by using a good groundnut sheller. Seed
that splits or damaged during shelling will not
germinate and grow.
Groundnut sheller
6
From the shelled pods well-filled kernels are
selected.
Well-developed pods and kernels
7
To obtain a good plant stand, use undamaged seed
with intact seed coats and treat shelled seed
with an approved seed protectant prior to
planting. The seed treatment is done manually
for small amount of seeds. Large amount of
seeds can be treated using a seed treating drum.
Seed treating drum
8
Groundnut seed is treated with Captan or Thiram
at 3 gm/kg of the seed to prevent any infestation
from soil borne diseases. Chlorpyriphose is used
_at_ 250 ml for 45 kg of seed to prevent the seed
damage from soil insects at initial
stages. Groundnut seed hardening treatment with
calcium chloride solution of 0.5 induced drought
tolerance and increased the yield.
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• Inoculating the seed with Rhizobium culture will
  help in improving nitrogen fixation by the crop
  if
• groundnut crop was not sown in a field
  during the last 4 to 5 years or
• the previous groundnut crop in the field has
  not produced a well nodulated, nitrogen
  fixing crop.

Well nodulated (left) and poorly nodulated
(right) plants.
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• Seed Inoculation
• A solution of 5 jaggery or sugar is prepared
  using water. For treating 100 kg groundnut seed,
  800 ml of solution is required as a sticking
  agent.
• In Tamil Nadu the farmers use rice gruel as a
  sticker.
• Two hundred grams of carrier-based Rhizobium
  culture is added to the above solution to form a
  slurry.

Carrier-based Rhizobium culture
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• Seed Inoculation
• Seeds are evenly spread on a cement floor or on
  a polythene sheet.
• The slurry is evenly poured and gently smeared on
  the seed surface.
• For uniform application of the inoculum, small
  batches of seed may be treated.
• The treated seeds are dried in the shade to avoid
  death of the Rhizobium.
• The seeds are then sown immediately.

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• Seed Inoculation
• Most of the seed-treating fungicides used to
  prevent seed-borne diseases kill the inoculated
  Rhizobium.
• When both the seed treatments are essential, the
  seeds may be treated with fungicide first and
  then with the Rhizobium culture.
• Please wash hands after handling any treated
  seeds!
• For information on Biological Nitrogen
• Fixation, please review Unit 2 in Lesson 2 of
• Module V.

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Module VIII Seeds and Sowing
Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics

With this, the Lesson 1 on Seeds and Seed
Preparation in this Module concludes. The next
Lesson in this Module is about groundnut
varieties. The subsequent Lesson in this Module
deals with sowing techniques in
groundnut. Select Lesson 2 in Module VIII from
Course contents
Course on Groundnut Production Practices