Evaluation of urdbean (Vigna mungo) germplasm for pre-harvest sprouting tolerance

A diverse set of 105 urdbean genotypes comprising of released cultivars, advance breeding lines of inter-varietial and interspecific origin, local germplasm collections, the wild progenitor of cultivated urdbean (Vigna mungo var. silvestris) and 5 checks were evaluated for their pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) tolerance and other important agronomic traits. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes. Seed germination (%) in pods (SGP), which was used as a measure of PHS, ranged from 8.8 in Vigna mungo var. silvestris to 99.4 in PCPGR 8057 (a local collection from Uttarakhand hills). The character associations and direct and indirect effects provided a preliminary idea about various plant, pod and seed traits playing role in the governance of pre-harvest sprouting in urdbean. The information on the performance of some popular urdbean cultivars with respect to PHS tolerance has been generated and some genotypes with relatively low PHS have been identified. Comprehensive field evaluation, however, is required before these genotypes can be used in breeding programmes.