Genetic and Phenotypic Insights into Seed Characteristics for Enhancing Yield Potential in Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]

Background: The study investigates the genetic variability, heritability and character association among seed characteristics in mungbean genotypes. Mungbean is an important pulse crop and understanding its genetic diversity is crucial for breeding programs aimed at improving seed traits such as size, weight and yield. This research employs statistical analyses to evaluate the extent of genetic variability and to explore the relationships between various seed characteristics. Methods: In this field-laboratory investigation, field experiments were conducted with 35 mungbean genotypes over four environments created by four different dates of sowing in Randomized Block design (RBD) with three replications at College of Agriculture, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, Rajasthan during summer-2019, Kharif-2019 and Kharif-2020. Result: Highly significant differences were found among all genotypes for all seed traits studied. The high degree of genetic variability along with high heritability and high genetic advance as per cent of mean were observed for water absorption capacity, water absorption index and porosity which reveals that these characters were under the control of additive gene action and therefore, form the basis of selection for mungbean improvement programme. Among seed traits, water absorption index and 100-seed weight had positive correlation with seed yield and directly contributed towards seed yield.