When to plant Bambara groundnut in Khomasdal North

Khomas, Namibia

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) is one of Africa's own beans — a tough, low, bushy plant, often grown by the women of the household on the poorest, sandiest land where maize would fail.

Bambara groundnut in Khomasdal North, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure	Rain-fed	With irrigation
Fit	Favourable
When to plant	21 Dec 2026 – 31 Dec 2026 opens in 12 weeks	29 Aug 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
Expected harvest	0.8–1.0 t/ha	about 1.7 t/ha
Harvest	From 21 Mar 2027 to 19 Jun 2027, depending on the planting date
Ready to harvest	90–170 days after planting
Work it takes	77–157 days per hectare, by hand
Rain meets its needs	48%

Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.

If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 21 Dec 2026. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

No seasonal forecast reaches Khomasdal North yet, so these dates follow the rains it usually gets rather than this year's.

Planting after 31 Dec 2026 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Khomasdal North

Rain and temperature	96%
The soil	96%
The lie of the land	60%

For bambara groundnut in Khomasdal North, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 60%. You cannot flatten it, but you can farm it: plant along the contour rather than up and down, ridge or tie ridges to hold water on the slope, and expect shallower rooting than the crop would manage on flat ground.

The 2026 season in Khomasdal North

Rainy seasons	One each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it
When the rains are expected	January 2026 to March 2026
Rain in a typical year	About 356 mm
This season's rain	Leaning dry — January and February look short of rain. Plant at the early end of the window, favour quicker and more drought-tolerant crops, and keep moisture in the soil: mulch, and weed early.
This season's heat	Hotter than usual — about +2.1 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can.
What that supports	enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this covers	One kind of ground throughout.

last updated 17 September 2026

Limited water holds back about 50% of yield here.

What bambara groundnut needs to grow here

Soil it likes	well-drained sand or sandy loam soil
Soil sourness (pH)	Happiest between pH 5.0 and 6.5
Spacing	40 cm between rows, 15 cm between plants
Feed it most with	phosphorus and calcium

What it takes to grow bambara groundnut in Khomasdal North

Planting material	About 125,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)	About 40 kg per hectare — the crop fixes most of this itself; inoculated seed matters more than a bag
Phosphate (P₂O₅)	About 8 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)	About 20 kg per hectare
In the shops	A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. Skip the nitrogen top dressing; inoculated seed does that job.
Hand work	77–157 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a bambara groundnut crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.

What to watch for

Pest/disease risk — manageableNot enough water in seasonSoil pH outside the crop's range

Grow Bambara groundnut with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Khomasdal North as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.

Or check your field first

Bambara groundnut in nearby districts

How to grow Bambara groundnut, step by step Land preparation to harvest — every task, in order

Frequently asked questions

Will bambara groundnut grow well in Khomasdal North?

Khomasdal North rates as favourable for bambara groundnut.

When should I plant bambara groundnut in Khomasdal North?

Typically 21 Dec 2026 to 31 Dec 2026, typical season.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Khomasdal North, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.