1Department of Biotechnology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh-362 001, Gujarat, India
2Department of Agricultural Botany, JAU, Junagadh-362 001, Gujarat, India
3Main Oilseeds Research Station, JAU, Junagadh-362 001, Gujarat, India
The contribution of each trait to total genetic variation was estimated through PCA analysis, first three principal components PCA1 (18.09), PCA2 (15.66) and PCA(11.34) were accounted for 45.09 per cent of total variation. Morphological descriptors revealed four main clusters of genotypes. The estimation of descriptive statistics of 19 morphological traits revealed the existence of significant level (45.09 %) of morphological diversity among 22 castor genotypes. Among the three principal component, maximum variation was contributed by five traits viz., bloom, spike length, seed color, hypocotyls anthocyanin coloration and number of nodes exhibited maximum variation. The analysis of variance for quantitative traits showed significant variation to total genetic diversity. The lowest genetic similarity was observed between genotypes VP-1 and JI-96 suggesting that both genotypes were wide genetically diverse and need to be used in genetic improvement program.
Castor, principal component analysis, morphological characters, genetic diversity, similarity index
