Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources

Three hundred exotic accessions of soybean (Glycine max L.) from various countries were evaluated for several quantitative characters. The accessions were grouped into five clusters. There was no corresppndance relation between the geographic distribution and their inclusion in a particular cluster. Genetic divergence analysis showed that the maximum distance was between II and V followed by I and IV cluster. Based on cluster means it is concluded that the crosses among the accessions of the cluster I, III and IV might be useful. The accessions viz. EC-2542, EC-9309, EC-11740-A, EC-11741-A, EC-14472, EC-14474, EC-26692, EC-34041, EC-34146-B, EC-37004, EC-37005 and EC-37066 showed desirable characteristics. These accessions can be utilised in hybridization programme to achieve high levels of yield and oil.