Genetic Divergence in Indian Mustard in Sodic Soil Conditions

From the genetic stock obtained from eight states, 40 varieties of Indian mustard [Brassica juncea L.) were studied under sodic field conditions. Observations were recorded on 11 characters, viz., days to 50 flowering, plant height, primary branches per plant, secondary branches per plant, siliqua per plant, seed number per siliqua, length of siliqua, single plant weight, yield per plant, 100 seed weight and days to maturity. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among varieties for all the 11 characters studied. Mahalanobis D² statistic was used to assess the genetic diversity among the varieties which could be grouped in seven clusters. The distribution of varieties in different clusters was not according to their places of origion. It was observed that D² technique was useful tool for measuring intra-specific divergence under sodic soil conditions.