Studies on Variability and Inheritance of Hardseededness in Mungbean (Vigna Radiata (L) Wilczek)

For hardseededness, sufficient variability was present among mungbean genotypes ranging from 0 to 23%. Out of the 236 lines screened for hardseededness, 97 were completely free from hard seeds. In 95 genotypes, hard seeds ranged from 1-2%, in 35 lines from 3-5%, and in five lines from 6-10%. Maximum hard seeds were found in the genotype MUL 81 (23%), followed by LM 51 (15%), MUL 106 (13%) and MUL 56 (11%). Inheritance studies revealed that hardseededness was controlled by a single dominant gene, as the F2 population of three crosses segregated into 3:1 ratio for hard seeds and non-hard seeds. These results were further confirmed by the backcross data