1Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, 171 001, (Uttar Pradesh).
2Central Potato Research Institute Campus (CPRIC), Modipuram, 250 110, (Uttar Pradesh).
*Present Address: Directorate of Wheat Research, Shimla, 171 001, (Himachal Pradesh).
Genetic divergence was studied in 60 potato genotypes belonging to wild/semicultivated Solanum species using ten morphological traits and four traits related to field resistance to Phytopthora infestans. Based on morphological traits, the genotypes were grouped into six clusters. The genotypes belonging to S. phureja, dihaploids and S. stoloniferum did not follow any trend since they were distributed in more than one cluster. Multivariate analysis based on late blight field resistance components divided the genotypes into five clusters. Of these, clusters II and III had maximum divergence (D=36.08) suggesting that intermating between the genotypes included in these two clusters are likely to throw segregants with better resistance to late blight.
