Screening for pod shattering in mutant population of mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek)

Abstract

Mungbean, (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) occupies a unique position in Indian agriculture and has been grown under various agro-ecological conditions. It is cultivated in 1.61mha with production of 3.38MT and productivi-ty of 474kg/ha in India. Mungbean pods are thin and brittle when dry, so shattering is a major problem. The loss of seeds by pod dehiscence is one of the major reasons for low yield in mungbean; thus, reducing the frequency of pod dehiscence is an important objective in mungbean breeding. Induced mutations, have offered a single and short alternative to conventional breeding including isolation, screening, selection and testing generation after generation. In this study, variability was induced by gamma rays and Ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) in two greengram geno-types viz., CO (Gg) 7 and NM 65. Screening for pod shattering was carried out in M2 and M3 populations of green-gram. The scoring for shattering was recorded at physiological maturity of the pod. The shattering percentage ranged from 14.56 (400 Gy) to 93.45 per cent (20 mM). A total of 100 shattering tolerant mutants were selected from field based on visual observation. These mutants were again scored under laboratory condition as per IITA method. A total of 12 mutants of CO (Gg) 7 and 10 mutants of NM 65 which were tolerant to pod shattering were identified in M2 generation and forwarded to M3 generation. These mutants were scored for pod shattering under laboratory con-dition and nine mutants viz., M26, M44, M46, M58, M70, M71, M84, M92 and M98 were found to be tolerant in M3 generation. This study on identification and screening of the mutants tolerant to pod shattering with high yielding potential will help to increase the production of the pods to a greater extent.