Cultural Management Practices of Groundnut : Scaling-up of Improved Groundnut Varieties through Established Seed System in Various Cropping Systems of Smallholder Farmers in Odisha

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a self-pollinated, allotetraploid (2n=4x=40) with a genome size of 2891 Mbp, and was most likely domesticated and cultivated in the valleys of Paraguay. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 to 50 cm (1.0 to 1.6 ft) tall. The leaves are opposite, pinnate with four leaflets (two opposite pairs; no terminal leaflet), each leaflet 1 to 7 cm (⅜ to 2¾ inch) long and 1 to 3 cm (⅜ to 1 inch) broad. Groundnut are known by many other local names such as peanut, earthnut, goober peas, monkey nut, pygmy nut and pignut. Despite its name and appearance, groundnut is not a nut, but rather a species in the legume or “bean” family. Groundnuts are rich in essential nutrients which are potential to provide health benefits. Groundnut gives 570 calories per 100 g serving and are an excellent source of several B vitamins; vitamin E; dietary minerals, such as manganese (95% DV), magnesium (52% DV), phosphorous (48% DV); and dietary fiber (right table). They also contain about 25% protein per 100 g serving, a higher proportion than in many tree nuts..