Vol. 11, Issue 3 (2022)

Author(s):
Veerala Priyanka, P Shanthi, DM Reddy and B Ravindra Reddy

Abstract:
Present investigation was made to study the nature and magnitude of genetic divergence in 42 pearl millet genotypes were evaluated in randomized block design for twenty two physiological, nutritional and yield related traits using multivariate analysis through Mahalanobis, D² statistics. The analysis suggested considerable genetic divergence among the material. D² statistics resulted in ten clusters. Based on relative magnitude of D², the genotypes were grouped into ten different non-overlapping clusters. Cluster I, having 11 genotypes, emerged with highest number of entries followed by cluster III which had 10 genotypes. Nine genotypes were observed in cluster II and Cluster IV had six genotypes, while clusters V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X had one genotype each. The maximum intra-cluster distance was observed for cluster II followed by cluster IV, cluster III and cluster I. The maximum inter-cluster D² value was recorded between cluster III and VII followed by between cluster III and V and cluster III and VI. Among the 22 characters studied highest contribution in manifestation of genetic divergence was exhibited by LAI at 60 DAS followed by LAD, Fe content, Zn content, protein content, days to maturity, green fodder yield plot^-1, plant height, 1000 - grain weight and panicle length.