[Forage potential of Arachis hypogaea in the Brazilian Cerrados] | Potencial forrajero de Arachis hypogaea en el cerrado brasileno

Two collections of Arachis hypogaea (C-94 and C-95) were evaluated between 1993 and 1996 on a Ultisol at the Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuaria dos Cerrados, Planaltina, DF, Brazil (15 degrees 35'30 S, 47 degrees 42'30 W,1,000 m above sea level). The C-94 collection originated from the 1993-94 harvest and consisted of 36 accessions provided by the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas (IAC), Sao Paulo. The second collection, C-95, was from the 1995 harvest and contained mainly germplasm from the Centro Nacional de Recursos Geneticos e Biotecnologia, Brazil, and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India. Checks for the C-94 collection were A. hypogaea cv. Caiapo and Arachis pintoi BRA-031143 (CIAT 22160); and for the C-95 collection, they were A. pintoi BRA-031143 (CIAT 22160), A. sylvestris BRA-013423, and the best-performing materials of the C-94 collection. Accessions were arranged in a random block experimental design with three replicates. The equivalent population for A. hypogaea and A. sylvestris was 90,000 +- 15,000 plants/ha and, for A. pintoi, 10 kg/ha of noninoculated seed. Each replicate was formed by four rows, 2.5 m long, spaced at 0.5 m. At planting, the equivalent of 88 kg/ha of P was applied to each furrow. The C-94 collection was planted on 11 November 1993 and C-95 on 10 February 1995. Neither weeds nor pathogens were controlled. The average DM production of the C-94 accessions at 90 days after planting was 3 t/ha, ranging from 1.3 t/ha for A. hypogaea cv. Caiapo to 5.0 t/ha for A. hypogaea accession IAC 5554 (Table 2). Average seed production was 1.8 t/ha, ranging from 1.3 Vha for A. hypogaea accession IAC 5493 to 2.2 t/ha for A. hypogaea accession IAC 5347. DM production of the C-95 accessions was similar at 90 days after planting, averaging 2.1 Vha. DM production (kg/ha per millimeter of rain) was similar to that obtained with the C-94 collection, ranging from 5-7 kg/ha for A. hypogaea accessions IAC 5015, 5042, 5054, and 5554 to 8 kg/ha for ICRISAT accession 11326. Average seed production in the C-95 collection was 1.3 t/ha, ranging from 0.4 to 2.2 t/ha. Based on the results obtained in these trials and on DM production between 90 and 180 days after planting, further research should be conducted with A. hypogaea accessions IAC 5554, 5054, 5480, 5069, 2233, and 5015; and with A. hypogaea accessions ICRISAT 11326,11341,11317, 11328, 11312,11342, and 11331.