Chemically induced mutagenesis in Blackgram(Vigna mungo (L.)Hepper)

The present investigation was carried out to study the extent of variability existed in the rice fallow blackgram varieties namely VBN3 and ADT 3 after induction of mutation through chemical mutagens namely EMS and colchicine. The results of M1 generation revealed that there was a shift in the mean for the characters Viz., plant height, number of branches per plant, number of clusters per plant, number of pods per plant,100 seed weight and seed yield per plant towards positive /negative directions.In M2, chlorophyll mutants namely, albina, xantha, chlorine, viridis and few viable mutants like giant plant, bushy plant, unifoliate leaf, narrow leaf, crinkled leaf, glabrous pod, short pod ,brown seeded, sterile plant and pigmented mutants were recorded.A significant increase in number of branches per plant, number of clusters per plant, number of pods per plant and seed yield per plant was noticed in M2 generation.The PCV and GCV showed significantly higher values in yield component characters such as number o f branches per plant, number of pods per cluster, number of pods per plant and seed yield per plant in M2 generation.The yield attributing traits like number of branches per plant, number of pods per cluster,100 seed weight and seed yield per plant recorded high heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean in M2 generation.