Assessment of Character Contribution to the Divergence in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Germplasm

Sixty-five rice accessions were evaluated for eleven characters to study genetic diversity. Result indicated presence of considerable genetic divergence among the accessions and their pattern of distribution into various clusters was random and independent of geographical origin. Cluster I, III and II contain 28, 19 and 12 accessions, respectively, while clusters IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and IX were monogenotypic. The highest intra cluster distance was observed for cluster III (7.72) followed by cluster II (4.85). Cluster VII had highest mean value for filled grains per panicle (210.06), total grains per panicle (251.33), spikelet fertility per cent (89.19) and grain yield per plant (30.81 g) and cluster VIII for days to 50 per cent flowering (155.33), days to maturity (180.33) and plant height (177.21 cm). Days to flowering had maximum contribution (47.74%) to the total divergence followed by days to maturity (13.7%) and plant height (13.65%). The accessions falling in different clusters with high mean grain yield and high mean for component characters can be utilized for hybridization programme to obtain elite segregants.