Evaluation of Cluster Bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) Genotypes for Vegetable Pod Yield and Guar Gum Production

Abstract

Cluster bean is a multipurpose legume crop grown in arid and semiarid regions for feed, fodder, and vegetable purpose. In the present study, seven genotypes of cluster bean were evaluated to estimate vegetable pod yield and guar gum properties under Coimbatore conditions. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with five replications. Observation on 14 characters viz., plant height (cm), days to first flowering, days to 50% flowering, number of flower cluster per plant, number of pods per cluster, number of pods per plant, pod length (cm), fresh pod weight (g), dry pod weight (g), fresh pod yield per plant (g), dry pod yield per plant (g), seed yield per plant (g), guar gum in seed (%) and protein content in seed (%) were recorded. The results of present investigation showed that CT CBE 002 outperformed all other genotypes studied in terms of plant height (156.34 cm), total number of clusters (16.44.), number of pods per cluster (6.78), number of pods per plant (99.64), seed yield per plant (29.61 g), guar gum percent (30.56 %), and seed protein content (22.13%). Pod weight was found to be the highest in MDU 1(6.62 g). CT CBE 001 was found to have the maximum pod yield per plant (343.12 g) and pod length (15.16 cm) and had the earliest days to first flowering (27.00 days) and days to 50% flowering (39.80 days).