Pinto peanut
Arachis pintoi
Family: Fabaceae
What it is like
This wild perennial relative of the groundnut or peanut, has been of increasing importance to pasture improvement in the tropics.
Arachis pintoi is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.3 m (1ft) by 0.3 m (1ft in) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Insects. It can fix Nitrogen. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist or wet soil.
Height (m): 0.3
Where it is found
Low forest with a fairly dense canopy
S. America - eastern and central Brazil.
Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 0
Medicine
Rating: 0
Other
Rating: 3
Agroforestry Uses: Because of its high degree of shade tolerance, pinto peanut is finding application as a pasture legume in tree plantations, but also as a ground cover in plantations from which grazing animals must be excluded. Pinto peanut is mostly used as a permanent pasture in intensive grazing systems and in very shaded situations under plantation crops. It can be used as a ground cover or as an ornament (Cook et al., 2005). Arachis pintoi is tolerant to heavy grazing and is compatible with aggressive grasses such as Brachiaria (Hess et al., 2003). It is potentially capable of producing high yields of forage in the tropics and improving soils and degraded pastures (Cab Jimenez et al., 2008). Useful for pasture, ground cover and as an ornament. Pinto peanut is a valuable forage, easy to establish, persistent, and combines well in mixtures under a wide range of climate and soil conditions, including heavy grazing. Pinto peanut is a good ground cover crop that can completely cover the soil in less than 6 month. Pinto peanut is used as a live mulch for soil conservation and weed suppression, particularly in shaded situations such as under trees and vines. Once established, pinto peanut may outcompete weeds and is thus useful for weed control. In its early stages, it may be useful to control weeds to ease its development (Abdul-Baki et al., 2002).
Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.
Green manure: Fast-growing plants that can be used to increase the fertility of the soil.
Soil conditioner: Plants grown to improve the structure of the soil. See also Green manures.
Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.
Agroforestry Services: Understory legume: Legume vegetation, especially the trees and shrubs growing between the forest canopy and the forest floor.
Fodder: Pasture: Enclosed tracts of farmland mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants).
Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Management: Hay: Cut to the ground and harvested annually. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.
Agroforestry Services: Nitrogen: Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include the legume family – Fabaceae.
Agroforestry Services: Understory legume: Legume vegetation, especially the trees and shrubs growing between the forest canopy and the forest floor.
Fodder: Pasture: Enclosed tracts of farmland mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs (non-grass herbaceous plants).
Management: Fodder: Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Management: Hay: Cut to the ground and harvested annually. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.
Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
Ground Cover: Ground Cover
Nitrogen Fixer: Plants that fix nitrogen in the soil
How it is grown
A plant of the moist tropics, also succeeding in humid subtropical areas. It is found at elevations up to 1,400 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 28c, but can tolerate 12 - 30c. Top growth is killed by frost, but plants can regrow from the taproot if the frost was only light. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 900 - 3,000mm, and can tolerate a dry period of up to 4 months. The plant grows best in light shade, but is also tolerant of full sun and heavy shade. It grows well in most soil types, preferring a fertile soil but succeeding in soils of low fertility. It cannot reproduce in heavy clay soils, or in any soils that form a hard cap after rain, because the developing seedpod is unable to penetrate the soil and dies. It can tolerate low levels of salt in the soil. It prefers a well-drained soil, but can tolerate some water logging. Prefers a pH in the range 5.4 - 6, tolerating 4.5 - 7.5. There are no reports about this species becoming a weed. However, once established it is very difficult to eradicate, spreading by stolons for up to 2 metres a year in the wet tropics and about 1 metres a year in the subtropics. Since the seed develops underground any natural dissemination can only be by water erosion. The seeds are soft and digestible and are not spread through animals. Seedlings develop quickly following germination, and with good growing conditions and several plants per square metre, a complete ground cover can be achieved by a network of stolons in less than six months. Flowering commences three to four weeks after emergence and continues through the growing season, appearing to intensify following rain or irrigation. The develping seedpod is borne on a gynophore or peg, which elongates to up to 27cm after pollination and pushes the seedpod up to 7cm deep into the soil. Plants are rarely subjected to fire in their native habitat. However, high levels of seed in the soil, plus the capacity to re-establish new crowns at depth if the surface crown is destroyed, ensure a good recovery after fire. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.
Propagating it: Seed - when fresh it has a high level of dormancy, which may be reduced by drying the seed at 35 - 40°c for 10 days. When growing the plant in new areas, the seed should be inoculated with a specific strain of Bradyrhizobium, which is different from that used on commercial groundnuts. Sow the seed in situ - a well-prepared seed-bed is desirable but not essential. The seed should be sown 2 - 6cm deep at a rate of 10 - 15 kilos of seed per hectare, followed by rolling. The seed remains viable in the ground for more than one season. If seed is not available, pinto peanut is readily propagated from cuttings.
Best place to grow:
Habit: Perennial
Hardiness: 8-12
Growth: Fast
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: Full shade, semi-shade, no shade
Moisture: Moist, wet
Things to keep in mind
Its other names
Local names
Pinto peanut (English); arachide de Pinto (French); maní forrajero perenne, maní perenne (Spanish); amendoim forrageiro (Portuguese); kacang pinto (Indonesian);