Abstract:
Expanding peanut cultivation in Sri Lanka is becoming a timely need with the current socioeconomic
situation in the country, as it can sustain the food, nutrition and improve the poor
livelihoods. Improvement of new varieties of peanut with market demanded attributes such as
seed size can further strengthen the profit of the industry. In the peanut breeding program in Sri
Lanka, jumbo peanut variety development is being continued through conventional breeding
techniques. Six promising breeding lines (ANKGL2019-1, ANKGL2019-2, ANKGL2019-3,
ANKGL2019-5, ANKGL2019-6 and ANKGL2019-7) which were identified at previous yield trials
were further tested for their yield performances at multi locations. The experiment was
conducted according to a RCBD design at three research stations during 2019 Yala and at four
research stations during 2019/20 Maha. The adaptability of the genotypes was assessed using a
ranking method. All the tested lines scored significantly higher pod yield than the check variety,
Lanka Jumbo. The best two lines, ANKGL2019-1 and ANKGL2019-2 were selected for further
testing at farmer fields. Based on performance at farmer managed conditions and acceptance of
farmers those lines can be considered for general cultivation.
