Physiology of Mungbean and Development of the Mungbean Crop Model

Stepwise yield improvements in mungbean since the first introduction of varieties such as Emerald and White Gold have transformed the crop into an important summer legume and the main rotation option for dryland growers in northern Australia. Although the more recent release of Crystal has delivered increased yield and boosted growers’ confidence, the full potential of the crop has yet to be tapped. The crop usually produces <2 t/ha in environments where other legumes, including peanut and soybean, can produce up to 5 t/ha. Studies conducted in Australia have shown that the radiation and water use efficiencies of mungbean are similar to those of soybean and peanut, but the dry matter production potential and its partitioning into yield are relatively low. The understanding of pulse crop physiology, agronomy and genetics developed over the last four decades in Australia and elsewhere must now be integrated with current mungbean breeding programs to achieve further yield increases. It is necessary to identify other traits/mechanisms that could lead to increased dry matter production and its partitioning, and to incorporate them into suitable backgrounds through breeding as has been achieved in some other legumes. This would require improved understanding of the process of yield formation in the crop. The current physiological knowledge of the crop has been well incorporated into the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) mungbean model, but the model requires further improvement. This paper evaluates the scope for mungbean improvement using a trait based approach, and discusses potential applications of APSIM for improving crop adaptation in different environments.