PS 36-191 - Effects of density, variety, and their interaction on mung bean ecophysiology and yield

Background/Question/Methods

Mung bean (Vigna radiata) is a warm season, C3 pulse crop of the legume family that has been widely cultivated in Asian countries. The demand for mung bean continues to increase in the United States due to its nutritional profile, minimal production requirement, and consumption by health-conscious Americans, Africans, Asians, Caribbeans, and Hispanic immigrants. However, how climate and agricultural practices in the Southeastern US would influence the ecophysiology, growth, and yield of mung bean varieties has not been well investigated. A field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research and Education Center of Tennessee State University to investigate the effects of two planting dates (May and June), three densities (5, 10, and 15 cm spacing), and four varieties (OK 2000, OK Berken, TSU-1, AAMU-1) on the ecophysiology and yield of mung bean. Due to drought in May 2021, germination of seeds was very poor, and the May planting was discontinued. Leaf photosynthesis, transpiration, water use efficiency (WUE), chlorophyll content, height, leaf area index, pod number per plant, seed number per pod, 100-seed weight, harvest index (HI), and yield were measured for the June planting.

Results/Conclusions

Results showed that plant height, pod number, seed number, yield, dry pod biomass per plot, and harvest index were significantly varied among the varieties. Density only influenced transpiration, chlorophyll content, and dry biomass per plot. OK 2000 with more pods/plot, higher HI produced higher yield than other varieties. There was no significant difference in yield among the other three varieties. Plants in the high density (5 cm spacing) treatment produced the highest dry biomass and transpiration and showed a trend of high yield. Our results indicate that spring drought could be a significant factor influencing mung bean germination. Further studies need to focus on the interaction between springtime climate and agricultural practices on mung bean ecophysiology and yield. This study is supported by the USDA and NSF projects.