Abstract

                                Mahalanobis D analysis was employed to study the genetic diversity in 40 genotypes of sesamum and to know the relative contribution of nine characters to genetic diversity. A wide genetic diversity was noticed among the 40 types tested wherein the genotypes fell into six different clusters. The clustering pattern showed that the geographic diversity need not necessarily be related to the genetic diversity, Genotypes from different ecogeo- graphic regions were grouped in one cluster. Likewise, genotypes from the same ecogeo- graphic region were found scattered in different clusters. The inter-cluster distance study revealed that cluster VI was highly divergent from clusters IV and V. Cluster I recorded the highest cluster mean values for plant height, branch number, capsule number, capsule number on main stem, 1000 seed weight, oil content and seed yield. The ranking analysis disclosed that oil content followed by days to full maturity contributed maximum to genatic- divergence.

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