Experiments were conducted in lysimeters to assess root development, water uptake, transpiration efficiency, yield components, and their relationships, in twenty groundnut genotypes under well watered (WW) and mild (DS-1), medium (DS-2), and severe (DS-3) intermittent stress until maturity. Pod yield decreased 70%, 55% and 35% under severe, medium and mild stress, respectively, compared with WW conditions. Pod yield varied among genotypes, and showed highly significant genotype-by-treatment effects.Root length density (RLD) varied among genotypes before and after stress imposition, although RLD did not discriminate tolerant from sensitive lines. Total water uptake and root length density (RLD) under water stress had a significant but weak relationship.Water extraction from the soil profile (total water uptake minus irrigation water), was the highest under the severe stress. Water uptake varied largely among genotypes in all water regimes, but correlated to pod yield under WW conditions only. The relative harvest index, i.e. the ratio of the harvest index under stress to that under WW conditions, was closely related to the pod yield in all three intermittent stresses (R 2 = 0.68 in DS-1; R 2 = 0.65 in DS-2; R 2 = 0.86 in DS-3), and was used as an index of stress tolerance. Under medium and severe stresses, the relative harvest index was negatively related to plant leaf weight (R 2 = 0.79 in DS-2; R 2 = 0.53 in DS-3), but less so under mild stress (R 2 = 0.31).Results suggest that under an intermittent stress, genotypes with lower leaf area may use water more sparingly during drying cycle with less damaging consequences for reproduction and pod development than genotypes having larger leaf area.Additional Keywords: groundnut, water deficit intensities, water uptake, root characteristics, pod yield, lysimetric system Introduction Intermittent water stress occurs in crops that are planted during the rainy season and where gaps in rainfall can expose plants to water stress at any time during the cropping cycle, with possible variation in the timing, the intensity and the duration of the associated water deficits (Serraj et al. 2005). Groundnut typically experiences a range of intermittent stresses and yields are affected when the stress occurs at both vegetative and reproductive phases (Rahmianna et al. 2004). Yield is then highly dependent on the stage when the stress occurs and the available water to the crops at that stage (Ratnakumar et al. 2009).From a breeding point of view, knowing whether different stress intensities would affect groundnut yield differently is also critical to set the screening conditions according to those in the targeted environment, and it is of major interest for this present work.Indeed, even if exposed to an intermittent stress that follows the same frequency during the same phenological period, the intensity of the stress can vary a lot depending on how much water is received each time the stress is relieved by rainfall. Therefore, while selecting for lines adapted to an intermittent s...