Genetic divergence in mung bean

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to provide information on the nature and magnitude of genetic diversity among 30 mung bean genotypes for yield traits by using Mahalanobis’s D2 statistics. Thirty genotypes could be grouped in 6 clusters, cluster VI showed maximum intra-cluster distance while the highest inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster III and VI. Cluster II recorded highest means for seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, seed yield per plant and shelling %. The percent contribution towards genetic diversity was highest for shelling percentage (17.70) followed by seed yield per plant (16.55) and number of clusters per plant (14.71). From the divergence analysis, it may be concluded that the genotypes belonging to different clusters separated by high estimated statistical distance may be used in the hybridization programme for developing high yielding mung bean varieties. Five genotypes viz., PDM-11, TARM-2, TM-98-50, PDM 54 and Basanti could be identified as most useful in the future breeding programme