In order to develop high-yielding genotypes of adapted maize, multilocation trials of maize were performed including forty-five maize hybrids exploiting genetic variability, trait associations, and diversity. The experiments were laid out in an RCB design and data were recorded on eight yield and yield-contributing traits, viz., days to anthesis (AD), days to silking (SD), anthesis–silking interval (ASI), plant height (PH), ear height (EH), kernels per ear (KPE), thousand-kernel weight (TKW), and grain yield (GY). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant variation present among the different traits under study. The phenotypic coefficient of variance (PCV) showed a higher value than the genotypic coefficient of variance (GCV), indicating the environmental influence on the expression of the traits. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was found for these traits, indicative of additive gene action. The trait associations showed that genotypic correlation was higher than phenotypic correlation. Based on genetic diversity, the total genotypes were divided into four clusters, and the maximum number of 16 genotypes was found in cluster IV. Among the eight yield and yield-contributing traits, PH, ASI, EH, and TKW were the important traits for variability creation and were mostly responsible for yield. Genotypes G5, G8, G27, G29, and G42 were in the top ranks based on grain yield over locations, while a few others showed region-centric performances; all these genotypes can be recommended upon validation for commercial release. The present findings show the existence of proper genetic variability and divergence among traits, and the identified traits can be used in a maize improvement program.

Mungbean is one of the most powerful pulses providing substantial protein for human diets and fixing N to the soil, improving nutritional food security and agricultural sustainability. The production of summer mungbean in the tropics and subtropics is adversely affected by drought due to water scarcity caused by various factors as well as lack of rainfall. Irrigation at different growth phases is not a suitable solution. An environmentally friendly and economically viable answer is a convenient irrigation management option that will be available to farmers together with drought-tolerant genotypes. The study considered to determine the effect of differences between drought-tolerant and drought susceptible genotypes on water productivity response and physiological traits in mung beans. To quantify seed yield-related to irrigation at different growth stages eventually to quickly determine the most appropriate irrigation stage. One water stress tolerant mung bean genotype (BMX-08010-2) and one sensitive genotype (BARI Mung-1) were grown in the field with four different irrigation schedules along with water stress conditions (no irrigation) under rain shelter at Regional Agricultural Research Station, BARI, Ishwardi, Pabna, Bangladesh. The experiment was laid out in split plots with three replications, with irrigation schedules assigned in the main plot and mung bean genotypes assigned in the side plots. Water use efficiency ranged from 3.79 to 4.68 kg ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ depending on irrigation regime, and mung bean seed yield of mung bean Water stress decreased plant water status, photosynthetic pigment and membrane stability index, and increased proline soluble sugar content. Treatments that received irrigation during two or three phases (I₃ or I₄) gave significantly higher yields than those that received irrigation during only one stage (I₁ and I₂) with the lowest yield. While the yield obtained ranged between 1145.44 kg ha⁻¹ with seasonal irrigation of 277 mm (I₄) and 555.14 kg ha⁻¹ without irrigation (I₀). The flowering stage (I₃) was recorded as the most sensitive growth stage with an 18.15% yield reduction compared to the treatment with triple irrigation (I₄). Also, depending on the irrigation sources, at least two irrigation phases should be provided at the triple leaf stage (I₂, i.e., 20 DAS) and at the flowering stage (I₃, i.e., 35 DAS) to achieve the highest yield. Genotypes that maintained the higher performance of physicochemical traits under water stress provided higher seed yield and promoted drought tolerance. Therefore, these parameters can be used as physiological and biochemical markers to identify and develop superior genotypes suitable for drought-prone environments.

Six mungbean parental lines and their fifteen F₁s produced from half-diallel mating design were investigated for combining ability and heterosis in terms of a yield and its components. Results showed highly significant variations among the parents and F₁s, suggesting a wide genetic variability for the studied characters. Analysis of variance indicated that genotypes mean square values, general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) were highly significant (p ≤ 0.001) for all measured traits except for days to flowering, days to maturity, and pod length indicating genetic diversity of parents and both additive and non-additive gene effects in the inheritance of the measured traits. A higher effect of SCA than GCA for plant height and seeds per pod suggests the preponderance of non-additive gene effects in the expression of characters. Based on per se performance and GCA, BARI Mung-1, PS-7, and BMXK1-14004 were the best general combiners for yield per plant. In the context of SCA, hybrids BMXK1-14004 × Sonali mung, BMXK1-14004 × PS-7, BMXK1-14004 × BINA Mung-8, Sukumar × PS-7, and BARI Mung-1 × BINA Mung-8 were good specific combiners. BMXK1-14004 × Sonali mung and BMXK1-14004 × PS-7 were the best heterotic hybrids for yield and yield-contributing traits. These parents and crosses could be utilized for further use in breeding programs to improve yields in mungbean crops.

Thermal unit indices have a strong correlation with the phenology, growth and yield of crops and can be effectively used to select suitable crop cultivars for specific environmental conditions especially temperature. In this study, four mustard varieties (viz., 'BARI Sharisha-14', 'BARI Sharisha-15', 'BARI Sharisha-16' and 'Tori-7') were grown in two consecutive growing to assess the impact of thermal unit indices on crop growth and development, and to select the suitable variety for better yield under optimum sowing condition. Thermal unit indices viz., growing degree-day (GDD), helio-thermal units (HTU), phenothermal index (PTI) and heat use efficiency (HUE) were estimated from daily temperature and sunshine hours. Role of GDD on different growth indicators and seed yield (SY) were estimated through association and dependence of the traits. Significant variations in studied genotypes were observed for different traits. Among the studied varieties, 'BARI Sharisha-16' produced higher dry matter and seed yields (1.82 t ha-1) while accumulated maximum GDD at different growth stages. A strong positive association was obtained between GDD and the studied traits. Thermal unit indices had a strong influence in attaining different phenophases and other growth indicators. Therefore, results suggest that those indices could be used for growth prediction; further 'BARI Sharisha-16' is expected to use heat energy more efficiently for increasing the seed yields which indicated that the crop can perform better under global warming scenarios.

Background: Salt stress (SS) has seriously threatened the productivity of pulses including black gram in modern input-intensive farming systems which necessitates finding biologically viable, pro-farmer and environmentally friendly SS ameliorating strategies. Methods: An experiment was conducted to assess three levels of both SS (0, 50 and 100 mM NaCl) and citric acid (CA, 0, 50 and 100 µM) applied as a foliar spray to ameliorate the deleterious effects of SS on black gram (cv. BARI Mash-3). The response variables included plant growth traits like plant height (PH), leaf number (BLPP) and root dry weight (RDW) along with chlorophyll contents (chl a, chl b and tchl), plant water status (relative water content RWC and water retention capacity WRC), grain yield (GY), stover yield (SY), biological yield (BY)) and harvest index (HI) along with nitrogen (N) and protein (P) content of black gram. Result: The results revealed that CA (100 µM) remained unmatched by increasing PH (76.25%), NLPP (37.52%), RDW (83.67%), Chl a (17.80%), Chl b (11.59%), tChl (15.51%), RWC (9.81%) and WRC (26.64%) under highest level of induced SS. The same treatment also surpassed the rest of the doses in terms of grains number per pod (23.89%), 100 grains weight (59.74%), GY (82.86%), SY (59.66%), BY (64.94%) and HI. Moreover, CA accumulated N and P content (29.9%) in the grain under SS conditions. These results indicated that application CA alleviated the adverse effects of SS by triggering the growth, yield and nutritional quality which might be developed as a potent strategy to cope with the declining productivity of black gram in saline environment.

Salinity drastically hampers the germination and growth of legumes including mungbean which jeopardizes the food and nutritional security of the rising human population. An experiment entailing varying salinity levels (0, 50, and 150 Mm NaCl) was conducted to investigate the response of salinity on germination and seedling growth of four mungbean genotypes (BARI Mung-7, BARI Mung-8, BU Mug-2, and BU Mug-4). The germination indices such as percentage and rate of germination along with the coefficient of velocity (GP) of all mungbean genotypes were significantly reduced by the salt stress, especially of Binamoog-5 at 150 mM NaCl. Contrarily, BARI Mung-8 remained superior by recording better germination indices under all salinity levels. The same cultivar outperformed the rest of the cultivars based on the greatest weights (fresh and dry) and length of roots and shoots, while BU Mug-2 could not perform at par under a saline environment. Thus, it might be inferred that mungbean genotypes differ in their potential for salt endurance due to the germination vigor and seedling growth robustness and screening of salt-tolerant cultivars could mitigate the detrimental effects of saline environment.