Two hundred and sixty four hill wheat germplasm collections were grown at VPKAS Experimental Farm, Hawalbagh, Almora, for two consecutive years 2002–03 and 2003–04 in an augmented design. These were evaluated for 15 quantitative traits. All the genotypes were grouped into 15 clusters using non-hierarchical Euclidean analysis showing existence of high genetic diversity in the material. High coefficient of variability was observed for grain yield/plant, grain weight/spike and biomass/plant. First eight vectors explained more than 80% of the total variation. The highest intercluster distance was obtained between cluster X and XV (17.27). The intracluster distance was the maximum in cluster IV (4.73) and minimum in cluster V (2.30). Crossing between superior genotypes of diverse cluster is expected to generate transgressive segregants for grain yield, spike length, 1000-grain weight, effective tillers/plant, biomass/plant, early flowering and maturity.
Triticum aestivum, Germplasm evaluation, Divergence, Hill wheat
