Principal Component Analysis in Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) Germplasm

Principal component analysis was carried out using morphological traits in 63 germplasm accessions of Panicum maximum Jacq. The analysis resulted in identification of seven clusters. The largest clusterhad 19 accessions followed by clusters with 14 and 10 accessions. Average distance of cluster members from cluster centroids was found to range from 1.543 to 2.695. Many of the clusters comprised entries from as diverse sources as humid Southern India to dry Africa. The study indicated that opportunities exist to select the most desirable type for any agro-ecological zone out of the wide genetic diversity available.