Evaluation of mung bean accessions in saline soil based on quantitative morphological characters

Abstract

Salinity is one of the most important abiotic stresses that affect the growth and yield of mung bean. The objective of this study was to identify and cluster the performance and classify mung bean accessions in saline soil of Lamongan Regency, East Java, Indonesia based on quantitative morphological characters. The study was conducted at Brondong District, Lamongan Regency during the dry season of 2017 with soil electrical conductivity 5–10 dS/m. Seventy-five mung bean accessions were evaluated using a randomized block design, with two replications. All of the characters observed varied and 71.8% could be explained by four factors. The tested mung bean accessions were divided into four clusters, each consisting of 35, 7, 19, and 14 accessions. Cluster I was dominated by accessions with short plants and medium yield. Cluster II was dominated by accessions with small to medium seed size. Cluster III was characterized by high-yield accessions. Cluster IV consisted of accessions with better performance. The average seed yield was 0.84 t/ha with a range of 0.41–1.24 t/ha. Based on seed yields, there were 11 accessions that had yield more than 1.02 t/ha, 2 accessions from cluster I and 9 accessions from cluster III. Selected accessions were prospective for the genetic improvement of mung bean varieties for salinity tolerance.