Vol. 12, Issue 9 (2023)

The study analysed 129 wheat genotypes (Segregating population) of F5 generation using an augmented design with six blocks and four checks in the Research Fields of Genetics & Plant Breeding, School of Agriculture, “Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab.” Among the seven Clusters, Cluster 1 was the largest cluster containing fifty-nine genotypes whereas Clusters 2 and 4 were filled with fourteen genotypes, Cluster 9 with eight genotypes, and Cluster 3 and 7 with seven genotypes whereas the remaining Clusters viz. Clusters 5 and 7 with only four and five genotypes respectively and the genotypes within these clusters exhibited significant differences and show immense potential as parental candidates for crossbreeding. The inter-Cluster D² values varies from 15.749 (Cluster 1 and 3) to 70.316 (Cluster 2 and 5) indicating the presence of a broad spectrum of genetic diversity among the genotypes present in the Clusters. Intra cluster D² values ranged from 8.8579 (cluster 10) to 21.7595 (cluster 4). The analysis indicates that the genotypes grouped within each cluster exhibit limited diversity, suggesting that selecting parents from the same cluster for the hybridization program may not be a favourable approach. “The current study shows that the phenotypic coefficient of variation is greater than the genotypic coefficient of variation may be due to the influence of interaction” between the genotype and the environment for all the phenotypically expressed traits of the wheat plant. Harvest index recorded the highest GCV (17.29) and PCV (21.76) respectively while Single plant yield had the highest heritability h2 (89.29%). However, 1000 grain weight (30.63) and plant height (22.71) showed the highest “genetic advance as a per cent mean (GAM).