Genetic divergence analysis for vegetative, flowering, fruit quality and yield characters in strawberry, Fragaria x ananassa Duch

Fourteen genotypes were evaluated for different vegetative, floral, fruit quality and yield characters to study genetic divergence by employing D² analysis. The genotypes were grouped into 3 diverse clusters. Cluster III consisted of maximum six genotypes followed by cluster I and II both of which consisted of four genotypes. The maximum inter-cluster distance was recorded between cluster II and cluster III hence genotypes belonging to these clusters can be used as parents for hybridization programme for the development of high yielding strawberry genotypes. Highest intra-cluster distance was observed in cluster II.