Genetic divergence studies for yield and its component traits in Mung bean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek)

The present investigation was carried out at Genetics and Plant Breeding (GPB) farm, College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Imphal, Manipur during kharif 2021 using 60 genotypes of Mung bean. Mahalanobis D2 statistics was used to evaluate the diversity. A total of fourteen clusters were formed with maximum number of genotypes in cluster I i.e., 29 genotypes followed by cluster II with 17 genotypes, cluster XII with 3 genotypes, all the remaining clusters were mono genotypic. It was found that the pattern of genotype distribution into different clusters was random and unrelated to geographic diversity. Results on genotype diversity between clusters IV and IX revealed the greatest inter-cluster distances, whereas cluster XII had the greatest intra-cluster distances. The largest cluster mean for seed yield per plant was found in cluster IX. Further, maximum contribution towards divergence was by number of seeds per plant (52.49%) followed by seed yield (17.8%) and days to 50% flowering (7.34%), while minimum by pod length which had shown 0% contribution.