Abstract: Breeding programmes to improve nutritious pulse crop have not been commensurate with its role in the Indian diet. Induced mutations have played a great role in increasing world food security, since new food crop varieties embedded with various induced mutations have contributed to the significant increase of crop production. Though, the crop improvement work on urdbean (Vigna mungo L. Hepper) has been in progress for several years at various state Agriculture universities and ICAR institutes in India, the programmes lacked systematic and coordinated efforts. It was only after 1967 that the crop along with other pulses started receiving thrust under the All India Coordinated Programme on Improvement of Pulses (AICPIP). Plant breeding requires genetic variation of useful traits for crop improvement. Mutagenic agents, such as radiations and certain chemicals, can be used to induced mutations and generate variation from which desired mutants may be selected.