Establishment, Agronomic Characteristics, and Dry Matter Yield of Rhizoma Peanut Genotypes in Cool Environments

Rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.) has potential to provide high quality forage during summer months; however, establishment of the stand is slow and cold tolerance is limited. During the three growing seasons from 2006 to 2010, a randomized complete block design experiment was initiated at four locations, near Tifton, GA (2006, 2007, and 2008), Gene Autry, OK (2006), Burneyville, OK (2007 and 2008), and Vashti, TX (2007 and 2008), evaluating 16 rhizoma peanut genotypes for better establishment characteristics and cold tolerance. At the end of the establishment year, genotype A6 (PI 210555) had the greatest coverage (74%), followed by genotypes A156 and A160 (51 and 56%, respectively), while genotypes A10 and A42 had the least coverage (9 and 13%, respectively). The remaining genotypes were intermediate and generally did not differ from the released cultivars Florigraze, Arbrook, and Latitude 34, which had 25, 25, and 30% coverage, respectively. In the second season after establishment, genotypes Latitude 34 and A160 produced the greatest yields (1000 and 1360 kg ha(-1), respectively). In the third season after establishment, Latitude 34 (3630 kg ha(-1)) outyielded all genotypes except A156 and A160 (2610 and 2260 kg ha(-1), respectively). Therefore genotypes A160 and Latitude 34 consistently had the greatest coverage and production and may have greater cold tolerance. However, in the final year (2010), there were no genotypes that survived the winter.