Indian Institute of Horticulture Research, Hessaraghatta, Bangalore 560 089
* Present address: National Research Centre for Onion and Garlic, Rajgurunagar 410 505 (Maharashtra)
** National Agricultural Technology Project, KAB-II, ICAR, New Delhi 110 012
Distance analysis was done to find out the generalized distance among six parents and their 30 F1 hybrids of eggplant. Significant differences among the parents and hybrid combinations revealed the existence of considerable diversity among the population tested. As many as ten clusters have been formed and six parents fell in five clusters. The canonical vectors needed to be considered to account for around eighty percent of variation. The infra-cluster distance was maximum in cluster IX (179.79) in which two hybrid combinations were found, i.e. 56.62 and 59.08 respectively in them. The inter-cluster distance was maximum in cluster V and X (232.16) followed by cluster VIII and cluster IX (172.45), cluster I and X (154.44) and cluster VII and X (143.99). Three hybrids fell in cluster V and X, four in VIII and IX, three in I and X and four in VIII and X. The standardized potence ranged from 61.34 to 130.39% in cluster V and X and 0.00 to 87.89% in cluster VIII and X. Thus, it is inferred from this study that there is a strong relationship between genetic distance and standardized potence.
