Assessment of genetic divergence in fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) based on biological characters

Abstract

Genetic divergence analysis following Mahalanobis D2 statistics dislosed considerable genetic diversity among sixty genotypes of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) for all the twelve quantitative characters. Sixty genotypes were grouped into eight distinct clusters depending upon the similarities of their D2 values following Tocher’s method. The clustering pattern of studied genotypes usually did not follow the geographical distribution. Appreciable diversity within and between eight clusters were observed. Among eight clusters, cluster V consisted of 16 genotypes, followed by cluster III (12), cluster I (9) and VII (7), clusters VI (6), cluster IV (5), cluster II (4) and cluster VIII was monogenotypic. Intra-cluster distance was highest in cluster IV followed by cluster VII. Inter cluster distance was observed maximum in cluster IV and VIII followed by cluster II and VIII and minimum distance was observed in cluster I and III. On the basis of cluster mean performance, cluster VIII and V can be considered better for selecting superior genotypes for most of the characters. The study also revealed that for acquiring heterotic response and better segregants, inter-mating between genotypes of diverse clusters may be undertaken in breeding programmes for improvement of yield and quality traits.