Inheritance of some important agronomic traits in mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek)

Abstract

The inheritance of some important agronomic traits (the node of the first peduncle, nodes on main stem, average internode length, pod clusters on main stem and pod clusters on branches) has been studied through a half diallel cross of six diverse mungbean genotypes. Additive and dominant gene actions were responsible for the inheritance of node of the first peduncle, pod clusters on main stem and pod clusters on branches, whereas only additive gene effects were responsible for nodes on main stem and average internode length. However, the additive gene effects were predominant for all these traits. For the lower node of the pod peduncle, the cultivar, NM 92 and combination, NM 92 × VC 3902A were the best general and specific combiners, respectively. The combination NM 92 × 6601 may be used directly to select lodging-resistant mungbean genotypes. High narrow-sense heritability estimates for node of the first peduncle and average internodal length indicated the possibility of developing mungbean genotypes with pod peduncles starting from lower nodes and resistant to lodging.