Influence of Soil Type on the Adaptation of Groundnut Genotypes

In field studies in 1987-91 at the ICRISAT Centre at Patancheru, advanced breeding lines of groundnuts produced greater pod yields on Vertisols (range 2.02-3.81 t/ha) than on Alfisols (0.61-1.56 t). There was a strong soil type X genotype interaction. In another study, 4 groundnut cultivars were irrigated or water stressed during flowering, pod-set or pod-filling. This showed that while CGR were greater on Alfisols, they were linearly related to those measured on Vertisols. However, pod growth rates and partitioning of DM to pods showed a strong soil type × genotype interaction suggesting that the genotypes developed on the Alfisol maintain relative ranking for total DM on Vertisol, but not necessarily for pod yields