MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS IN RICE (ORYZA SATIVA L.)

Abstract

Seventeen elite germplasm lines being maintained at Research Farm Genetics & Plant Breeding of AKS University, Satna, M.P were evaluated for their genetic diversity with regard to grain yield, yield components and quality traits. The genotypes were classified into 5 clusters, based on Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The genotypes from diverse geographical regions were placed in the same cluster, while, genotypes from the same centre were grouped into different clusters. Results on inter-cluster distances revealed maximum diversity between genotypes of clusters III and IV. Intra-cluster distance was maximum for cluster IV indicating the existence of variability within the cluster. A perusal of the results on cluster means revealed greater yield for cluster IV indicating the desirability of genotypes from the cluster for improvement of grain yield. Further no. of spikelet's/panicle, days to 50% flowering, flag leaf width, together accounted for 93.39 per cent of the total genetic divergence, indicating their importance as selection criteria in the choice of parents for hybridization programmes.