1Present Address: Department of Seed Science & Technology, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India (e-mail: jhansisagar@yahoo.com)
Directorate of Sorghum Research (ICAR) Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India
Online published on 19 March, 2018.
Genetic divergence was analysed for 16 characters among 41 sorghum genotypes (mostly rabi) by using Mahalanobis D2 statistic. High genetic divergence was observed among the genotypes, which formed seven clusters. Clustering pattern revealed homogeneity of material within the cluster, to a large extent. The maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between clusters II and VII followed by II and VI. Contribution of morpho-physiological traits which are important for rabi adaptation, to the total diversity was much less compared to the contribution of panicle components. Based on cluster mean values for important panicle components and morpho-physiological parameters and inter-cluster distance, diverse parents were suggested for crossing programme.
Genetic divergence, Mahalanobis D2 statistics, Morpho-physiological characters, Panicle components, Rabi sorghum
