Genetic diversity in soybean [Glycine Max (L.) merill] based on morphological characters

A quantitative assessment of genetic diversity for ten characters in fifty genotypes of soybean has been worked out by Mahalanobis's D² statistics. Fifty genotypes were grouped into six clusters, which revealed that there exists no correlation between the geographical origin and genetic diversity. Maximum 21 genotypes were grouped in cluster III. The clusters V (Co1, Co (Soy)3, CSB 0903) and IV (LU100 and LU133) were the distant clusters, while clusters I (EC 2514 and OS 612) and II (JS 98–62 and LU 89) were the nearest clusters. Yield per plant and number of seeds per plant contributed maximum to the genetic diversity. The clusters V possessed the high mean values for many of the traits. Therefore entries belonging to distantly related clusters can be used in the crossing programme for the development of good recombinants for seed yield.