Genetic divergence in advanced hybrids of potato using non-hierarchical Euclidean cluster analysis

Genetic divergence was studied in 35 genotypes (27 potato advanced hybrids and eight released cultivars) on the basis of 9 characters, namely plant height, number of shoots per plant, number of leaves per plant, total tuber yield per plant, number of tubers per plant, average tuber weight, marketable tuber yield per plant, dry matter (%), and chip colour. Genotypes were grouped into 6 clusters based on six principal components, which explained most of the variation. Based on these principal components, non-hierachical Euclidean cluster analysis grouped 35 potato genotypes into 6 distinct clusters. High yielding genotypes of cluster II were highly diverse to genotypes of cluster I, which contain genotypes with high dry matter. Characters plant height, number of shoots, number of shoots, dry mater yield per plant and chip colour were major contributors towards genetic divergence.