Study of genetic diversity in rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes for grain yield under humid south eastern plain of Rajasthan

Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important food source for more than half of the world’s population, so determining the best genotypes for proper crossing is important to produce high yielding varieties with good cooking quality. Diversity helps the plant breeder in choosing the right parents for breeding programmes. The genotypes were grouped into six clusters based on Mahalanobis’s D2 statistics. Cluster II consisted with the highest number of (8) genotypes from different origin, whereas cluster VI consisted with the lowest number of (1) genotypes. Cluster I consisted of 7 cultivars showed maximum mean grain yield. Maximum inter cluster distance was recorded between cluster III and VI. Cluster I had the highest mean values for grain yield and Number of productive tillers per plant and Cluster VI had the highest mean values for 1000-grain weight. The cultivars from these clusters with desirable characters may be used as potential donor for future hybridization program to develop high yielders.