PHENOTYPIC PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF YIELD AND GROWTH TRAITS FOR SELECTION OF SUITABLE MUNGBEAN (Vigna radiata L.) VARIETIES IN THE SOUTHERN REGION OF BANGLADESH

An experiment was conducted at the research farm of Patuakhali Science and Technology University (PSTU), Dumki, Patuakhali, during the period from January to April 2015 to evaluate the growth, development, and yield performance of seven mungbean varieties for obtaining the most productive variety suitable for Patuakhali region. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates. Among the varieties, BARI mung 4 showed better performance in respect of growth, development, and yield contributing characteristics compared to other varieties. The results showed better performance on growth characters namely, the number of leaves per plant (15.62), branches per plant (5.427), leaf area per plant (1079 cm2), and total dry matter weight per plant (9.64 g) were recorded in BARI mung 4. The highest seed yield recorded in BARI mung 4(1.69t ha-1) might be due to superior growth characteristics thereby seed yield. Besides, BARI mung 4 produced a pod number of 24.22 and the maximum number of seeds per pod (6.42). In contrast, the lowest seed yield was recorded in the local variety (0.81 t ha-1) for its inferior growth and yield contributing characters. Therefore, BARI mung 4 may be cultivated commercially in the southern region of Bangladesh.