Assessment of genetic diversity in blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] germplasm

Abstract

Genetic diversity analysis was carried out with 50 black gram genotypes by using Mahalanobis D2 statistics for ten quantitative traits. All the genotypes were grouped into ten non-overlapping clusters. Cluster I was the largest with 19 genotypes, followed by cluster II with 14 genotypes, cluster III with 8 genotypes, clusters VII and IX were digenotypic, while the remaining clusters IV, V, VI, VII and X were monogenotypic. The maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster VII and IX. Cluster IX had recorded high mean values for most of the traits. Selection of genotypes from these diverse clusters with high mean performance and more per cent contribution as parents in the crossing may result in superior combinations along with maximum variability in the segregating generations. Hence, crosses among the genotypes viz., LBG 623 (cluster I), LBG 787 (cluster III), DKU 87 (cluster II) and VBN 8 (cluster VII) may result in production of superior pureline varieties in black gram. Among the traits, pods/plant contributed maximum towards the total divergence.

Keywords

• genetic diversity
• black gram
• mahalanobis d2
• pods/plant