Mass Selection of Snake Bean (Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis. (L.) Verdc.) for Pod Length and Yield in Fourth Generation

Snake bean (Vigna unguiculata ssp sesquipedalis L.) is one of important vegetables in tropical and subtropical region. The consumption of snake bean is high by increasing the
human population growth in Malaysia. Snake bean is popular in Malaysia because of their distinctive and appetizing taste. Snake bean must be improved to increase the production to support the consumption. Mass selection can be used to increase yield in plants. Pod length is one of the main components of yield of snake bean. Therefore, this research is conducted to improve the yield by improving the pod length of snake bean by using mass selection
technique. Two hundred and forty seeds were selected from previous generation. They were grown in eight plots. The pods longer than 75cm were selected and dried for next generation (fifth generation). From this research, the mean of pod length was 54.31 cm which is lower than third generation (56.17cm) due to some unfavorable condition. Meanwhile, the yield for the fourth generation was 169.9 kg higher than third generation (161.0 kg).