Genetic Divergence in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Genetic divergence as measured by D² technique was studied for seed yield and its components in 60 chickpea germplasm accessions. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes for each character under study. The genotypes were grouped into 6 clusters and the maximum intra-cluster distance was observed in cluster I comprising 14 genotypes. Cluster III and VI were identified as genetically divergent. Considering the cluster means and cluster distances, IG 327, IG 326, IG 323, IG 311, IG 314 of cluster V; ICCV 89243, ICCV 91020, ICCV 91024, ICCV 91007, IG 313 of cluster VI; ICCV 91004, ICCV 91003, ICCV 89228 of cluster III; ICCV 91008, ICCV 91012, ICCV 89224 of cluster I were the most promising genotypes. They may be utilized in future breeding programme to obtain high heterotic effect or to develop desirable recombinants.