Genetic variability and character association for yield and its components in black gram (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper)

A pooled analysis was carried out in order to estimate the genetic parameters and to study the association in urdbean. Analysis of variance indicated highly significant difference among all the genotypes studied for all the characters. The phenotypic coefficient of variation was higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation among all the characters studied. Higher phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variation were observed for total seed yield, number of pods per plant and number of bunch. Very high heritability estimates were recorded for all the characters recorded viz., plant height, number of branches, number of bunches, number of pods per plant, pod length, number of seeds per pod, test weight and total seed yield. High genetic advance expressed as percentage of mean, were recorded for plant height, number of branches, number of bunches, number of pods per plant and total seed yield. The higher ‘r’ values concomitant to the use of very less number of genotypes attributed the maximum towards the least number of characters being significantly correlated. Hence, selection for genotypes with higher plant height, more number of branches, bunches and number of pods could facilitate augmentation of seed yield in urdbean.