Browse Peanuts Stories - Page 5

Bringing together experts in groundnut research from across Ghana, a new organization of scientists aspires to boost the size of the crop and profit for farmers, improve the quality of groundnuts consumers see at the market and increase the supply of nutritious and safe food served in homes. The Ghana Groundnut Working Group met for the first time in July to explore peanut production, economics, technology and benefits in Ghana. The model for the meeting is the American Peanut Research and Education Society, a 51-year-old organization in the United States that has helped the peanut industry in the Americas weather disease and other production problems over recent decades.

The University of Georgia Southeast Georgia Research and Education Center (SREC) in Midville, Georgia, will host its annual field day on Wednesday, Aug. 14.

Peanut researchers from the University of Georgia met with hundreds of peanut scientists from around the world earlier this week to discuss the international impact of peanut research and to recognize top researchers.

AUBURN, Ala. – The 51st gathering of the American Peanut Research and Education Society brought together hundreds of scientists and students to share cutting-edge research, with a particular focus on the value that international research is having on the U.S. peanut industry. With a theme of “Peanuts Around the World,” the conference called on the Feed the Future Peanut Innovation Lab to demonstrate ways research collaboration has dual benefits for science, industry and agriculture in the U.S. and other countries around the world.

Georgia farmers can learn about agricultural research while interacting with University of Georgia scientists during the annual Sunbelt Field Day in Moultrie, Georgia, on Thursday, July 25.

Scientists, students and advisors working on Peanut Innovation Lab projects in Uganda met in late May for a launch meeting in Kampala to celebrate the start of work and share questions and insight about the direction of projects.

The Peanut Innovation Lab is working not only to find the diversity in modern peanut, but also to introduce new diversity from the wild species. These efforts are aimed at helping to improve future peanut varieties – which already adapts well to different climates – become even more resilient to disease, pests and extreme weather.

One big key to improving peanut crop quality and market reliability in Malawi is post-harvest equipment. The Peanut Innovation Lab helped match up the people who want to buy peanuts with Frank Nolin, a retired steel equipment manufacturer who spent his career building equipment for the US peanut industry. By making it possible for buyers to sort nuts for size and quality, Nolin’s equipment allows buyers to separate nuts by grade and reward farmers based on quality, as well as separate groundnuts for sale in different markets.

Before farm-to-table was trendy, scientists and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension personnel in Tifton were taking research from the lab to the farm.