Genetic studies on biometric, biochemical, biophysical and morpho-physiological traits in mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]

Five lines and four testers were crossed in a line x tester fashion resulting in twenty hybrids. Among the twenty hybrids, the two best hybrids viz., VRMGG 1 x VBN 1 and VRMGG Local x PMB 27 were selected and subjected to generation mean analysis. Among the characters studied, the parents VBN 1 and VRMGG 1 were found to be good general combiners for seed yield plant-1 and its all its related characters. Among the crosses, VRMMG 1 x VBN 1 and EC 30072 x VBN 1 exhibited the highest per se performance, hence they were selected for this study. The significance of ‘C’ & ‘M’, m, d, h, i and l components demonstrated the importance of both additive and dominance effects for traits among the crosses. However, the value of H was greater than D for grain yield plant-1, number of pods plant-1, seed protein content and leaf area index for both the crosses depicting the preponderance of dominance effects in their genetic control. Hence, the selection followed by hybridization in early generations was a suitable breeding method for progress in these traits. Conversely, greater value of D over H demonstrated additive nature of genes for number of branches plant-1, number of clusters plant-1, nitrate reductase activity, photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance which advocated the utilization of pedigree for improvement of these parameters. Inter-mating or recurrent selection would be followed for genetic enhancement of grain yield in mungbean.