Estimation of genetic variability, heritability, and genetic advance for quantitative traits in elite urd bean (Vigna mungo L.) genotypes under agro-climatic conditions of Chhattisgarh

Pulses play a vital role in global nutrition, yet yield improvement in urdbean (Vigna mungo L.) remains constrained by limited genetic diversity. The present study evaluated genetic variability and identified superior genotypes among 21 elite urdbean lines, including three check varieties (KU 96-3, NUL 7, and IPU 1102), through an Initial Varietal Trial (IVT) conducted during Kharif 2024 at IGKV, Raipur. The trial was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications, assessing twelve agronomic traits: days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height, number of primary branches, number of clusters per plant, pod length (cm), number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100-seed weight (g), biological yield per plant (g), harvest index (%), and seed yield per plant (g). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed highly significant differences among genotypes for all traits, indicating substantial genetic variability. Across all traits, the Phenotypic Coefficient of Variation (PCV) exceeded the Genotypic Coefficient of Variation (GCV), reflecting environmental influence. Notably, clusters per plant (PCV: 22.07%, GCV: 18.45%) and seed yield per plant (PCV: 20.16%, GCV: 11.94%) showed high PCV with moderate GCV, suggesting moderate selection efficiency. High broad-sense heritability was observed for days to 50% flowering (90.18%), 100-seed weight (85.59%), days to maturity (83.15%), plant height (76.33%), %) and clusters per plant (69.92%). Traits such as plant height and clusters per plant also exhibited high genetic advance (24.66% and 31.79%, respectively), indicating additive gene action and effectiveness of direct selection. Conversely, harvest index showed high moderate heritability with moderate high genetic advance, implying non-additive gene effects.