Response of yield and morphological traits of some mungbean, Vigna radiate L. genotypes to drought stress

Water deficit is a great constraint for agricultural productivity world wide. Mungbean is a traditional pulse in arid and semi-arid areas. This research was conducted in a research greenhouse at the Ferdowsi university of Mashhad to investigate the impact of five drought levels (-0., -, -6, -9, and - bar) on yield and morphological characteristics of eight mungbean genotypes (Jalagon7, Kopergaon, D-6, IlagS6A, MD-, MY-7, Berken, Kiloga). The experiment was conducted as factorial in completely randomized design with four replications. The genotypes were exposed to drought stress 0 days after emergence. Some parameters were measured during growing seasons including plant height, leaf number, flower and pod number, length and number of lateral branches. Results showed significant differences of genotypes in all studied parameters in the first stage of stress. Reduction in the flowering and podding time were also observed in most genotypes. Flower numbers was a suitable parameter in assessment of drought tolerant genotypes. Most measured parameters did not show significant differences in all drought stress levels, and interactions at the end of growth season. At this stage, weight of pods was the best index. At the end of growing season, all of the measured parameters showed a reduction with increasing levels of drought stress. The highest amount of all parameters were observed in field capacity (-0. bar). Among the levels of water potential tested, - and -6 bars were the best treatments for evaluating drought stress of mungbean genotypes. Among studied genotypes, D-6, Ilag S6A, and MD - were the best ones in terms of responding to drought stress.