The wild peanut - a perennial provider

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Authors
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
Date
1993
Language
en
Type
News Item
Accessibility
Open Access
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Citation
CTA. 1993. The wild peanut - a perennial provider. Spore 48. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Permanent link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/49271
Internet URL: http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jcta48e/
Abstract/Description
Cultivated peanuts are a short-term annual crop but many of the wild species are perennial and grow indefinitely without replanting. Wild forage peanuts are found naturally only in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. Of the 80 known...
Notes
Cultivated peanuts are a short-term annual crop but many of the wild species are perennial and grow indefinitely without replanting. Wild forage peanuts are found naturally only in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. Of the 80 known species, 63 are native to Brazil. Used as a cover crop wild peanuts can help maintain soil productivity, prevent erosion, and control weeds in commercial crops of coffee' citrus, African oil palm, coconut and rubber. They are nitrogen-fixing and so enhance the fertility of the soil, are highly productive and persist even when grown with aggressive grasses. In addition, because of their high protein content, wild perennial peanuts can also be used as a highly nutritious forage legume for animals. In Colombia's Easter Plains bullocks grazed on a perennial peanut and grass pasture gained more than half a kilogram per day. giving an annual gain of 4()0kg/ha compared to 20kg/ha on native savannah pastures. Scientists at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) found that this grass-legume pasture was more productive and persistent than any other combination that they tested. CIAT, A A 6713, Cali, COLOMBIA
Subjects
CROP PRODUCTION AND PROTECTION;
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