Study of genetic variability, character association and path analysis in Urdbean (Vigna mungo L.) under irrigated conditions of Jammu region

Twenty genotypes of urdbean (Vigna mungo L.) was studied in Randomized Block Design with three replications during Kharif 2020 at Research Farm, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, Chatha for assessing genetic variability parameters and to outline the association of grain yield with yield attributes. The presence of significant genetic variation was demonstrated by analysis of variance among urdbean genotypes. Phenotypic variance was relatively higher than genotypic variance for all the morpho-physiological traits implying the role of the environment in the expression of such traits. Number of pods per cluster had exhibited high estimates of genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation, followed by number of clusters per plant, number of primary branches per plant and number of pods per plant. High heritability accompanied with high genetic advance as percentage of mean was observed for majority of the traits due to additive gene effect abundant sources provided for improving the traits through selection. Grain yield per plant demonstrated positive and significant correlation with number of primary branches per plant, number of clusters per plant, number of pods per cluster, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, pod length, 1000 grain weight, biological yield and harvest index which indicated the importance of these traits in determining the grain yield per plant. Path coefficients analysis defined the positive direct effect of number of primary branches per plant, pod length, 1000 grain weight and harvest index on grain yield per plant. Hence, it would be rewarding to lay stress on these traits in selection programme for enhancing the grain yield in urdbean.