Characterization and evaluation of mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) wilczek] germplasm through morphological and agronomic characters

The study was conducted to assess the genetic diversity based on morphological and agronomic characters among 185 mungbean accessions by multivariate analysis such as cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The results exhibited that hierarchical cluster analysis divided into 7 clusters among the germplasm. The maximum number of accessions was observed in Cluster I with 60 accessions followed by Cluster II and Cluster III consists of 42 and 38 accessions, respectively. Cluster IV and VI comprised 18 accessions each whereas each of Cluster V and VII involved 5 accessions. Principal component analysis provided that the first three principal components accounted for 78.06% of the total variability of agronomic characters. Among the study of agronomic characters, days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height at flowering, plant height at maturity, number of pod bearing branches per plant and 100 seed weight were contributed with the first principal component (PC1) whereas were the number of cluster per plant, pod per plant and yield per plant with PC2 and seed per pod and pod length with PC3, respectively. According to the findings of this research, the significant presence of genetic diversity was presented among the tested mungbean accessions and provides a good chance for the selection of parents for the improvement program.