Assessment of genetic diversity for kernel yield and quantitative traits in drought tolerant groundnut genotypes

Abstract

Fifty drought tolerant groundnut genotypes of groundnut were evaluated for their genetic diversity with regards to kernel yield and yield attributing characters. The genotypes were classified into nine clusters, based on Mahalanobis D2 statistic. Geographical origin, habit group and genetic diversity were observed to be unrelated, as genotypes from the same centre and habit group were grouped into different clusters. Results on inter-cluster distances revealed maximum diversity between genotypes of cluster VI and VIII. Intra-cluster distance was maximum for cluster VIII, indicating the existence of high variability within the cluster. A perusal of the results on cluster means revealed high pod yield per plant, kernel yield per plant, pods per plant, filled pods per plant and kernels per plant for cluster IX, while 100 kernel weight and specific leaf area (SLA) at 60 DAS were more for cluster VIII , indicating the desirability of genotypes from these clusters for improvement of respective traits. Further, 100 kernel weight and haulm yield per plant together had accounted for 92.25 per cent of the total genetic divergence indicating their importance in the choice of parents for hybridization programmes.

Keywords

• d2 analysis
• genetic divergence
• groundnut
• kernel yield
• physiological characters yield components