Optimizing green gram (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) productivity through sowing date and cultivar selection under subtropical conditions

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during the kharif season of 2022 at Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture & Technology, Ayodhya, eastern Uttar Pradesh, India, to evaluate the effects of sowing date and cultivar on phenology, growth, biomass production and yield of mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek). Three sowing dates (5, 15 and 25 July) were evaluated as main-plot treatments and three cultivars (Pusa Baisakhi, Narendra Moong-1 and SML-668) as subplots in a split-plot design with three replications. Delaying sowing progressively shortened crop duration: maturity occurred at 80, 75 and 70 days in Pusa Baisakhi and at 77, 72 and 67 days in SML-668 for the three sowing dates, respectively. Mean grain yield declined from 1260 kg/ha with 5 July sowing to 1180 and 1110 kg/ha with 15 and 25 July sowing, respectively. Pusa Baisakhi produced the highest grain yield (1330 kg ha−1), dry matter accumulation (384.3 g m−2) and biological yield (3840 kg ha−1), whereas SML-668 produced the lowest values for these traits but reached maturity earliest. Harvest index remained comparatively stable across sowing dates (32.0–33.6%), although Pusa Baisakhi recorded the highest cultivar mean (34.7%). The results indicate that, under the conditions of the present one-season field experiment, early July sowing and selection of a higher-biomass cultivar such as Pusa Baisakhi improved mungbean productivity. These findings provide a locally relevant basis for optimising kharif mungbean establishment in eastern Uttar Pradesh.