Morphological characterization of Gossypium arboreum germplasm using qualitative descriptors

The study was undertaken to determine the Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability characteristics of fifty-seven germplasm accessions of Asiatic cotton. The experiment was carried out using Augmented Block Design during summer 2021. Based on dissimilarity matrix scores, the genotypes were divided into five distinct clusters. Cluster V had the most genotypes (29), while Cluster II had only one genotype (PDB 4). Seven principal components were defined through Principal Component Analysis (PCA), accounting for 84.43 per cent of the total variation. The first principal component (PC 1) was associated with boll tip (0.62) and boll shape (0.56). The second principal component (PC 2) was associated with boll color (0.43) and stem pigmentation (0.38). The trait boll colour had the highest diversity index (4.04). Petiole pigmentation (3.532) had the lowest diversity index, followed by leaf nectaries (3.640) and leaf pubescence (3.742). Genotypes namely PDB 4, CNA 1054, PDB 29, DWDA 1602, NDLA 3086 and MDL 2663 occupied convex of the hull and had the highest point among the variables.