Haiti Peanut Research Report

A synthesis of four seasons of peanut agronomy trials in Haiti, published as University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Bulletin 1499 under the Feed the Future Peanut and Mycotoxin Innovation Lab. Peanut was planted on roughly 45,590 hectares on average between 2012 and 2014, about 3 percent of Haiti's cropped area, concentrated in the Northeast around Ouanaminthe and across the Central Plateau; production is rain-fed, low-input and worked by hand or ox-plow on gardens of a hectare or less, with farmers saving or buying seed of two landraces, the local runner and the local Valencia.

The trials cover four questions. On foliar disease, fungicide timing trials and variety screens (New Mexico Valencia A, the NMSU Top Six, ICRISAT and Tillman breeding lines) failed to find a Valencia that beats the local landrace, while Georgia-06G consistently out-yielded the local runner despite stunted growth and high susceptibility to rust. On soil fertility, none of the inoculant, granular, foliar or fulvic-acid treatments produced a significant yield gain, which the authors attribute partly to residual fertility in the trial fields and to high soil pH, and they recommend against the rhizobial inoculant on both agronomic and cold-chain grounds. On planting, Valencia yields rose consistently with density. The authors read that as 18-inch rows at three seeds per foot, and found that the traditional scatter method matched row planting at equal seeding rates. Appendices carry monthly rainfall, soil test results, the disease rating scales and earlier ICRISAT variety data.

The report addresses agronomists and grower advisors. It states plainly what is still open: fertility response in deficient soils has not been tested, and no introduced variety yet justifies replacing the Haitian landraces.