Evaluation in winged bean [Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC.] for tuber yield and its contributing characters

The present investigation was carried out for evaluation in winged bean for tuber yield and its contributing characters in twenty two accessions of winged bean. The experiment was conductedat Vegetable Research Farm of Banaras Hindu University Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh during kharif season of 2015. The tuber yield per plant (g) number of seeds per pod, tuber breadth (cm), leaf area index at pod initiation stage 100-seed weight (g) total sugar content (g/g) in tuber, tuber dry matter % tuber crude protein % and tuber length (cm) exhibited high values of genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation, indicating ample scope of selection of accession in winged bean germplasm. High heritability along with highto moderategenetic advance as per cent of over mean were observed for characters viz., tuber yield per plant (g) number of seeds per pod LAI at 1st pod initiation tuber breadth (cm) total sugar content (g/g) tuber dry matter % these results indicated the presence of wide genetic diversity for these characters, which are largely influenced by additive genes. Hence simple selection scheme would be sufficient for these traits to bring genetic improvement in desired direction. The correlation study revealed that tuber yield per plant (g) had positive and highly significant association with total sugar content in tuber (g/g) tuber dry matter % tuber length (cm) tuber breadth (cm), chlorophyll at 1st pod initiation (SPAD) chlorophyll at flower initiation (SPAD) days to tuber harvesting, LAI at 1st pod initiation. The association studied indicated that the tuber yield per plant (g) of winged bean can be improved by selecting genotypes having higher performances for these traits. The phenotypic path-coefficient analysis showed that the total sugar content in tuber (g/g) had maximum direct effect as well as indirect effect on the tuber yield per plant (g). It would be rewarding to lay stress on these characters in selection programme for increasing yield.