Thirty-eight genotypes of rice were grouped into five clusters following non-hierarchical Euclidean cluster analysis utilizing data on a set of eleven characters related to yield and its contributing characters. The genetic diversity observed was not related to geographic diversity. Grain yield/plant, total spikelets and seeds per panicle and panicle grain weight were mainly responsible for the genetic divergence. Based on statistical distance and cluster mean values, five genotypes, namely Pusa Basmati-1, Bengawan (from cluster II), J-56, IR-56762-B and Cemposelak (from cluster V) were found to be most promising and hence, these genotypes may be used in future hybridization programmes to evolve desirable segregants.
Rice, germplasm, divergence, cluster analysis
