Estimation of genetic distance using principal component analysis in native chicken population of Odisha

Sabat, Sidhdart Sankar, Nayak, Gangadhar and Mishra, Chinmoy. 2020. Estimation of genetic distance using principal component analysis in native chicken population of Odisha. Indian Journal of Poultry Science, 55(2): 99–103.

The genetic diversity of chicken population need to be estimated for designing a suitable breeding programme for their sustainable use. The primary objective of the present study was to measure important morphological and qualitative traits in the four chicken populations namely, Rangua, Khodia, Hansli and Balia of tribal region of northern Odisha. Clustering was done on the basis of principal components using D² analysis. Out of the studied nine morphological characters and nine qualitative characters, it was found that ten characters i.e. plumage colour (PC), adult body weight (ABW), keel length (KL), shank length (SL), thigh length (TL), body length (BL), chest circumference (CC), check weight (CW), wingspan (WS) and annual egg production (AEP) accounts for maximum variance. Four characters (TL, WS, CC and AEP) load well to give maximum variance of 32.723%. Clustering resulted in formation of 3 clusters I, II and III which include Khodia and Balia, Hansli and Rangua, respectively. The intercluster distance depicted that Rangua and Hansli were the most distant groups and can be used for selective breeding to exploit the heterosis. Khodia and Hansli are two divergent population also can be used for selective breeding to exploit the heterosis.