LAUSR

Background: The production of pulses recorded a negative growth rate due to stagnation in expansion of pulse growing area and very slow progress in the improvement of productivity of important pulses. Therefore, there is urgent need to increase the area under pulse crops by promoting them into new areas and seasons. Blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] is third most important pulse crop both in acreage and production in India and hence, identification of high yielding dual season (kharif and summer) stable blackgram genotypes is very crucial for horizontal expansion of crop, which in turn leading to increased production. The present study was thus envisaged to identify stable, high yielding dual season (kharif and summer) genotypes. Methods: Twenty-five blackgram genotypes were evaluated at three different locations during kharif and summer seasons to identify high yielding, stable and suitable for dual season. The data obtained from six environments was subjected to stability analysis as per Eberhart and Russell (1966).Result: Analysis of variance for stability revealed that variance due to genotypes, environment and environment + (genotype × environment) were highly significant for all the characters. The genotypes viz., TRCRU-136, BDU-20, BDU-18, AKU-15 and TRCRU-22 were found early maturing with wider adaptability to unfavourable environments. While, BDU-18 and LBG-465 were found stable in expression with high mean performance across the six environments for 100-seed weight. From the present study, six promising stable genotypes viz., BDU-17, TRCRU-22, BDU-18, TRCRU-339, TRCRU-18 and IC 436778 were identified for cultivation during kharif as well as summer seasons.