Decoding the Gene Action for Pod Length, Seed Weight and Yield in Intra-Specific Crosses of Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]

Comprehensive knowledge of gene action and interactions involved in the inheritance of pod length, seed weight and single plant yield is essential for formulating breeding strategies to develop a consumer-preferable, bold-seeded, high-yielding mungbean variety. Therefore, in the present study, a generation mean analysis (five-parameter model) was carried out in six different inter-varietal populations developed from contrasting parents to evaluate the gene action for the above traits. The experiment was conducted during the summer, 2023 at the Department of Pulses, Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. Significant variation in the mean performance of traits was observed across different generations of all crosses. The scaling test figured out the presence of inter-allelic interaction (epistasis) for pod length, seed weight and single plant yield in the populations evaluated. Collectively, the results revealed that pod length, seed weight and single plant yield were under the influence of fixable gene effects viz. additive and additive × additive interaction effects. However, the magnitude of additive × additive gene effect was relatively higher, necessitating the selection at later generations. The selected early-maturing segregants, characterized by high-yield, bold seeds and resistance to MYMV from the populations of COGG 13-39 x VGG 16-058 and COGG 13-39 x VGG 18-002 can be integrated into the breeding program to develop a commercially valuable mungbean variety.