Effect of Cultivars and Field Traffic on the Fruiting Patterns of Virgina Type Peanuts¹

Knowledge of the fruiting patterns of peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) is useful in determining the most feasible band widths for pesticides and other amendments, designing new peanut equipment and adapting new production practices for specific cultivars. The fruiting patterns and the effect of field traffic on these patterns were determined on five large-seeded Virginia type peanut cultivars with variant growth habits.

Cultivars differed in fruiting patterns with the bunch growth type having a significantly higher percentage of their pods near the taproot than the runner types. The bunch types, NC 17 and NC-FLA 14 had 73.5 and 66.5% of their total fruit within a 13-cm wide section centered over the taproot whereas, the runners, VA 72R and Florigiant, and the intermediate type, NC 5, had 42.8, 45.5 and 45.3%, respectively, in a similar position. At the 0.05 level of probability, field traffic had no significant effect on the fruit distribution of the bunch cultivars, but NC 5, VA 72R and Florigiant (at 0.10 level) produced significantly less fruit on the side of the row subjected to field traffic during the fruiting season.