Genetic diversity analysis in apple (Malus domestica) using yield and yield associating traits as per DUS guidelines

The variability studies undertaken on 56 cultivars of apple (Malus domestica Borkh) revealed that lowest st deviation (1.77) was observed for TSS, whereas highest (43.28) for fruit weight. Similarly cv was noted high (57.22%) in yield. The clustering pattern showed that cluster I and cluster IV consist of highest number of cultivars (17 and 12 respectively). Inter cluster distance showed highest(6.09) between cluster IV and Cluster V and lowest (1.98) between cluster I and cluster VI. The cluster IV registered highest mean fruit length, yield/tree and per hectare yield and cluster V showed highest mean for characters days taken to maturity after full blooming. Total principal components for PC 1, PC2 and PC 3 contributed more to total variance (44.75, 19.45 and 15.91% respectively).