Regional Research Station, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhawanipatna, Orissa 766 001
* Present address: Senior Scientist (Hort.), Plot No. 3114, Samantarapur, Bhubaneswar 751 002.
Twelve varieties of onion were evaluated over 3 years during kharif season for 6 economic characters to study genetic divergence using Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The pooled analysis revealed considerable variability among the asscessions for aggregate effect of all the characters. The populations formed 4 clusters which included two solitary groups. Maximum intercluster distance was recorded between cluster III and IV (D2=415.57), followed by cluster I and III (D2=391.88). Variety Arka Kalyan was agronomically superior to others in kharif season. Genetic divergence was not related to geographic distribution. Weight of bulb contributed predominantly to total divergence. Intercrossing between cluster III (Arka Kalyan) and IV (Pusa Madhavi) was recommended to recover transgressive segregates of kharif onion with high genetic yield potential and other desirable characters.
