Innovation in Single-Seed Precision Sowing Technology for Peanuts Helps Improve Quality and Efficiency

Peanut is an important oilseed crop in China and plays a major role in stabilizing the self-sufficiency rate of edible vegetable oil. To effectively solve problems such as the large amount of seed used in peanut production and the insufficient tapping of yield potential, the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, on the basis of years of scientific research, developed a peanut single-seed precision sowing technology centered on fully giving play to the potential of individual plants and building a reasonable population structure, changing the traditional understanding that “only two seeds per hole can achieve high yield.” This year, in a field yield acceptance check of the spring peanut high-yield trial field in Guxian Town, Pingdu City, the yield per mu reached 782.6 kg, breaking the national peanut high-yield record that had stood for more than 30 years.

Compared with the traditional two-seed sowing technology, peanut single-seed precision sowing mainly involves four key technological innovations: First, changing two-seed sowing to single-seed sowing. The ridge spacing in traditional peanut sowing is reduced from 90 cm to 80-85 cm, the hill spacing is reduced from 16 cm to about 11 cm, and each hill is changed from 2 seeds to 1 seed, with about 15,000 hills sown per mu, an increase of 5,000-6,000 hills compared with two-seed sowing. The peanut canopy closes 7-10 days earlier, effectively increasing the photosynthetic area and leaf area index. Second, precise balanced fertilization. According to the growth and development characteristics of single-seed precision sown peanuts, on the basis of increasing the application of organic fertilizer, part of the quick-acting fertilizer is changed to slow-release fertilizer. According to the degree of soil calcium stress, 30-80 kg of calcium fertilizer is applied as a base fertilizer per mu, with additional application of trace elements such as calcium, zinc, molybdenum, and boron, rationally matching nutrients to promote plant development. Third, timely chemical control to prevent excessive vegetative growth. In continuous rainy weather with insufficient light, single-seed precision sown peanuts are prone to shading and excessive vegetative growth. When the main stem height at canopy closure reaches about 30 cm and there is a tendency toward excessive growth, growth regulators are sprayed in a “multiple times, small amounts” manner to achieve vigorous but sturdy growth. Fourth, disease prevention, delayed senescence, and later harvest. Starting from the initial flowering stage of peanut, fungicides are sprayed early to prevent the occurrence and harm of peanut leaf spot disease. During the full-pod stage, foliar fertilizer is sprayed to prevent nutrient deficiency and premature senescence, striving for timely delayed harvest to achieve high yield.

⟦NL> In recent years, the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences has carried out experimental demonstrations of peanut single-seed precision sowing technology in many places in Shandong, including Pingdu, Junan, Zhaoyuan, Ningyang, and Guanxian, achieving good demonstration results. Cost savings and efficiency gains are significant. Compared with two-seed sowing, single-seed precision sowing reduces the plant population by about 4,000 plants per mu, reduces seed use per mu by about 20%, and better coordinates individual and population development. The total number of pods per mu reaches 390,000, 30,000 more than two-seed sowing, with an average yield increase of about 5% per mu. The application prospects are broad. In the past three years, the cumulative planting area of peanut single-seed precision sowing technology in Shandong Province has exceeded 6.5 million mu. From 2011 to 2015, it was listed for 5 consecutive years as a main agricultural technology promoted in Shandong Province. In 2015, it was listed by the Ministry of Agriculture as a main promoted technology and issued as a national agricultural industry standard. Next, the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences will further increase research efforts, strengthen core technological breakthroughs such as matching varieties for the model, standardized planting, and mechanization, work closely with agricultural technology extension departments and production and operation organizations in neighboring provinces, expand the scope of application and the scale of demonstrations, and drive large-scale quality improvement and efficiency gains.