Agrophysiological Performance of Mungbean Accessions (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek) and Nitrogen Balance under Mungbean in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) is a seed legume that is not well known in the cropping systems and dietary habits of Burkina Faso. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physiological and agronomic performance of fifteen mungbean accessions from a collection of the World Vegetable Center in Mali under rainfed conditions in Burkina Faso. The experimental design was a Fischer block with three replications, and the measurements focused not only on the growth, development cycle, and yield parameters of the plants but also on the total nitrogen balance in the soil at harvest. The results show that growth parameters such as the plant height at the beginning of flowering (HP), stem neck diameter (SCD), and number of branches per plant (NBrP) significantly discriminate between dealerships. The same was true for all the developmental parameters. The tallest plants with a higher crown diameter and number of branches were those of accession A3. The early flowering cycle varied from very early (29 days) to medium (41 days), with an average of about 34 days. On the other hand, the cycle at harvest varied from 82 days to 93 days depending on the accessions, with an average of about 88 days. The best performances in terms of yield were expressed by the accessions A3, A2, and A12 with 850.50 kg·ha−1, 625.2 kg·ha−1, and 544.8 kg·ha−1, respectively. At harvest, the soil nitrogen balance was generally positive with an increase of 0.326 g·N·kg−1 of soil, which represents a nitrogen input from the mungbean contributing to the improvement of the soil nitrogen status. As nitrogen is an essential nutrient that is often lacking, limiting plant growth, farmers are obliged to supply this nutrient in the form of fertiliser; with mungbean’s ability to supply nitrogen to the soil, it could therefore be used in crop rotations as a solution to make up for the lack of nitrogen.