Selection of genetically distant parents is an essential step in hybridization. Twenty indigenous germplasm lines were evaluated to assess the genetic diversity and variability. The significant mean sum of squares for all the ten characters indicated the presence of variability. All the 20 genotypes were grouped into five clusters according to Tocher's method. Cluster I and IV evolved as large clusters comprising six genotypes each. The maximum inter-cluster distance was exhibited by genotypes of cluster V, while it was minimum in the genotypes of clusters III, suggesting that crossing between the genotypes included in these two clusters is expected to generate heterotic combinations and thus facilitate the isolation of desirable genotypes.
Genetic diversity, Inter-cluster, Durum wheat (Triticum durum L.)
