ABSTRACT
Genetic divergence using D2 statistic of forty genotypes of various agro-climatic region for ten quantitative characters revealed existence of considerable genetic diversity in the material. The genotypes were grouped into eleven clusters. Cluster VIII contained the highest number of nine genotypes followed by cluster V with seven genotypes. The pattern of distribution of genotypes from different geographical location into eleven clusters were random, demonstrating that geographical isolation may not be the only factor causing genetic diversity. The highest intra-cluster distance was observed for cluster VI (112.02) and the lowest was observed for cluster II (6.24). While the highest inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster III and X (493.41). Harvest index contributed maximum to diversity. Cluster IX with WGG-66 recorded the highest mean for yield contributing characters viz., plant height, branches/plant, pods/plant and clusters/plant. Therefore it was suggested that more emphasis should be given this genotype as parents for crossing with genotypes of other clusters which may produce novel recombinants with desirable traits.
ABSTRACT
Genetic variation and association among nine characters were studied in eighteen selected groundnut genotypes. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters studied. The PCV was generally higher than the GCV for all the characters but in some cases, the two values differed slightly. The lowest values were shown by SMK percent and shelling percentage and the highest values were shown by pod yield per plant, kernel yield per plant, test weight and three diseases. High heritability along with the GAM was high for pod yield per plant, kernel yield per plant, test weight, shelling percentage and three diseases, indicated the importance of additive gene action and the ample scope for improvement in these traits through simple selection. The correlation study revealed that pod yield per plant had significant positive association with kernel yield per plant, shelling percentage and SMK percent at both genotypic and phenotypic levels. Aspergillus seed colonization exhibited significant desirable negative association with test weight revealing that the resistant genotypes in general had higher seed size.