Assessment of Genetic divergence in promising Rice bean [Vigna umbellata (Thunb.) Ohwi and Ohashi] Germplasm collection from Himachal Pradesh

The genetic divergence in 64 promising genotypes of ricebean was assessed by using Mahalanobis D² statistics. The genotypes were grouped into seven distinct clusters. Cluster I was the largest consisting of 26 genotypes followed by cluster IV and cluster II consisting of 20 and 14 genotypes respectively. The remaining clusters (III, V, VI and VII) were solitary. Major clusters did not show any definite relationship between geographic and genetic diversity. Highest intra-cluster distance was observed in cluster IV followed by cluster I while, maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster II and VII followed by cluster VI and VII. Crude protein (66.37%) and 100-seed (21.92%) weight exhibited maximum contribution to the genetic divergence. Genotypes RBHP-39 and RBL-1 were found to be ideal for future breeding efforts.