Genetic divergence studies in brinjal [Solanum melongena (L.)] genotypes under northern dry zone of Karnataka

Abstract

Seventeen diverse genotypes of brinjal were evaluated for 16 different qualitative and quantitative traits in brinjal and investigation was carried out at Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Vijayapura during kharif season of 2018. The genotypes were grouped into Six diverse clusters on the basis of D2 statistics and maximum number of genotypes (4) was found in clusters I and II with the maximum intra-cluster distance was recorded in cluster V (D2=3998.63). The maximum inter-cluster distance was observed in clusters III and cluster VI (D2=46,144.38). Hence, genotypes belonging to these clusters may be utilized for involving in hybridization programme for crop improvement. The characters like fruit diameter (61.76%), number of fruits per plant (22.06%) and yield per plant (12.50%) contributed more for genetic divergence.