Effect of Application of Some Agronomic Practices on infection by Aspergillus flavus and yield of Groundnut( Arachis hypogaea L. )

Abstract

Groundnut plays an important role in the livelihood of poor people and in the rural economy of many developing countries. Infection of the crop with, Aflatoxin caused byAspergillus flavus, hampers international trade and adversely affects health of consumers of nuts and their products. No single approach for control of Aspergillusflavus in groundnut was proved to be effective and without drawback. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of an Integrated Agronomic Practices Management on infection by Aspergillus flavusinaddition to Growth and yield in Groundnut. Treatments which includes single dose of Jatropha Seed Cake (2.5 t/ha), sulfur (119kg/ha), super phosphate (119 kg/ha), ammonium sulphate (119 kg/ha) and control were applied to two groundnut cultivars under three harvesting periods(90-100-110days)after sowing laid out in a randomized complete block design arranged in a split-plots replicated three times for two successive seasons. Experiments were conducted for two seasons 2011/12-2012/13 in the demonstration farm of the College of Agricultural Studies, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum North, Shambat. The results showed that fertilizers treatments among them and interaction between varieties and fertilizers significantly reduced infection of groundnut by Aspergillus flavus and revealed significant increase on leaf area index, plant height, number of primary branches, number of pods/plant, germination % and yield /ha as well.The lowest infection (5.8% and 6.9%) in pods and 1.2% in seeds were obtained by the interaction of Fertilizers and varieties whereas the highest infection (27.3%) was countered in the control. The two tested cultivars showed similar behavior towards the fungus infection during vegetative and reproductive growth stage except for plant height, primary branches, yield and yield components. The yield increased with delayed harvest as well. The current findings were considered promising and encouraging for more research studies that aims at minimizing the risk of contamination with fungi producing mycotoxins in Sudan.