MORPHOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF PULSE (Vigna spp.)CROPS TO SOIL WATER DEFICIT

The present experiment was conducted with two common pulsecrops namely black gram (vigna mungo.l) and green gram (vigna radiata.l) withthe objective to study the morpho-physiological changes that took place inresponse to low moisture stress. parameters such as plant height, leaf number, leafarea and pod number were studied under moisture stress condition as well assubsequent recovery stages. at harvest, yields of these two crops were recordedand various yield indexes like drought susceptibility index, drought toleranceindex, mean and productivity rate were calculated. the study revealed thatmoisture stress has a significant impact on all these parameters in both crops. theeffect was more significant in green gram compared to black gram. from thefindings it is observed that moisture stress during flowering stage is detrimental foryield of the pulse crops and re-watering does not have a significant impact on yieldimprovement. black gram variety t9 and green gram variety pratap were identifiedas drought-tolerant varieties.