Agriculture Business Week

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) or groundnut has been a popular crop in the Philippines. It is considered one of the major field legumes grown by farmers but its production has been low and erratic. Among the provinces in the Philippines, the top producers of peanut are Isabela, Pangasinan, La Union, Quirino, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Aurora, Albay and Iloilo. However, the Cagayan Valley region produced almost half of the country’s total peanut production.

In the Philippines, peanut can be grown throughout the year provided inputs, especially the water requirement are adequately available. In general, dry season crop (October-January) gives higher yields and beans of better quality than the rainy season crop.

Recommended Varieties

The recommended peanut varieties in the Philippines are as follows:

1. UPL Pn-2 – 104-111 days
2. UPL Pn-4 – 105-110 days
3. UPL Pn-6 – 105-110 days
4. UPL Pn-8 – 100-110 days
5. BPI Pn-2 – 97-101 days
6. UPL Pn-10 – 98-100 days
7. PSB Pn-2 – 101-103 days
8. PSB Pn-3 – 103-104 days
9. ICGV 8848 -120 days
10. ICGV 88392 -120 days
11. ICGV 88406 -120 days

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Legumes are the richest and cheapest common source of protein among all foods of plant origin. Protein found in legumes is a cheap substitute for fish, chicken, pork, and other meats. Aside from being an important food in the human diet, legumes are also good supplementary feed for livestock and poultry.

Legumes-soybean, mungbean, peanut, string bean, winged bean, to name a few – are special kinds of plants. They have the ability to hide bacteria in their roots, which form nodules (numerous rounded masses in the roots). The bacteria present in these nodules catch nitrogen from the air and transform it into usable form and supply it to the soil to be used by the next crop.

“Though nitrogen is abundant in nature – cycling between the atmosphere, soil and living organisms-it is only directly available to plants when converted through biological or industrial processes to certain forms, primarily ammonium and nitrate,” explains Lindsay Watkins, seed bank manager of the Florida-based Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO).

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