Growth behaviour, productivity and profitability of promising mungbean varieties in semi-arid region of Afghanistan

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out at the Experimental Farm of Afghanistan National Agricultural
Sciences and Technology University (ANASTU), Kandahar, Afghanistan during April to June, 2015
to assess the performance of promising mungbean varieties viz. Mai-2008, Mash-2008, NM-94, NM-
98 and 'Kunduzy' under semi-arid conditions of Kandahar. It was revealed that different varieties
showed significant differences for growth, morpho-physiological and yield parameters. Mai-2008
exhibited highest plant height (41.5 cm). Maximum number of primary branches (3.8) was observed
in NM-94 followed by Mash-2008 while 'Kunduzy' exhibited minimum number of primary branches
plant–1. The NM-98 produced highest pod length (10.7 cm) while Mash-2008 produced maximum
number of pods plant–1 (25.8), 1000-grains weight and seed yield plant–1 (9.5 g). The trend of seed
yield was Mash-2008>Mai-2008>NM-98>NM-94>Kunduzy, respectively. However, maximum straw
yield (5.93 t ha–1) was recorded in NM-94. Mash-2008 resulted in higher gross (AFN 1,51,100 ha–1)
and net returns (AFN 1,24,680 ha–1) followed by Mai-2008 while 'Kunduzy' resulted in lowest gross
and net returns. Significantly higher B: C ratio was observed in Mash-2008 followed by Mai-2008,
NM-94, NM-98, and 'Kunduzy', respectively. Overall, it may be inferred that the Mash-2008 was
the best performer w.r.t. growth and yield attributes, seed yield and profitability followed by Mai-
2008 in semi-arid conditions of Afghanistan.