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Peanuts: Genetic Vulnerability and Breeding Strategy¹

Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.), grown on 600,000 ha, rank ninth in area among major U.S. crops. Seven states produced 98% of the 1,707,000 metric tons grown in 1974 for a farm value of $576 million. The ‘Florunner’ cultivar was grown on over half the land area and yielded 60% of the total crop output. Two other cultivars, ‘Starr’ and ‘Florigiant,’ accounted for 16% and 12% of the crop area, respectively. None of the present cultivars grown in the USA has genetically identified resistance to the pests and pathogens that plague the peanut here. Pressures for monocultural production and uniformity exist throughout the food chain from farmer to consumer. However, the alloploid genetic structure of A. hypogaea and modified breeding procedures provide greater genotypic diversity for the economically dominant cultivars than that existing in the pure line varieties they replaced. Further widening of the genetic base will require changes in variety seed certification standards and market grading criteria.

Key Words: Amphidiploid • Arachis hypogaea L. • Breeding • Genotypic diversity • Groundnut • Monocultural production

² ~Supervisory research geneticist and leader, Crops Research Unit, ARS-USDA, Georgia Coastal Plain Exp. Stn., Tifton.

³ Mention of specific commercial cultivars does not constitute endorsement by the USDA over other cultivars not mentioned.

Received for publication October 11, 1975.