Evaluation of Quality of Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Seed in Ghana from Three Seed Sources

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) contributes to food security and reduction of poverty in Ghana. However, low yields minimize the potential financial returnof peanut in part because of limited access by farmers to high quality seed. The objective of this study was to assess the quality of peanut seed saved by farmers, seed purchased from local markets, and seed received from public research institutions. Forty-six, forty-five, and nine seed samples were collected from these respective sources in 2019 during the planting season across the five regions in Ghana. Uniformity of phenotypes from seed samples was at least 96% for all sources with the greatest uniformity observed for plants derived from seed collected from research institutions. Field emergence was greatest for seed collected from research institutions followed by farmer-saved seed and then seed collected from local markets. However, field emergence did not exceed 53% of seed planted regardless of seed source. Nine fungal species were identified on peanut seeds, with Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, and Curvularia lunata being the most prevalent. However, differences among seed sources were noted only for A. niger and A. tamarii.