Abstract

Twenty-seven pigeonpea genotypes consisting of 18 hybrids and their parents were evaluated for 11 traits to quantify the genetic diversity existing among them by using Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The genotypes were grouped into 14 clusters. Cluster size varied from single genotype (Cluster IX to XIV) to four genotypes (Clusters I and II). In general, hybrids with same habit were grouped into same cluster. Though the present results indicated the influence of parental genotype on the clustering, it could not confirm the influence of cytoplasm. Hence it might be concluded that the clustering pattern was influenced by the parents involved and habit of the genotypes than geographical origin. Number of seeds per pod, which contributed for maximum genetic distance (15.10), followed by plant height and number of branches per plant (11.40) and days to maturity (10.54). Among these characters, plant height, number of branches and days to maturity related to habit of the plants. This indicated the influence of habit on clustering through the related characters. Hence, the present study clearly indicated the influence of parents and their habit in the clustering pattern. Though the parents created variability in their crosses, the diversity of hybrids from parents was limited.

Keywords: Pigeonpea, diversity analysis, genetic divergence, heterosis.