Determination of genetic divergence based on biometrical traits in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Genetic divergence was studied for ten biometrical traits in 99 rice genotypes using Mahalanobis D² statistics. The analysis of variance revealed presence of significant differences among the genotypes for all the characters studied. Based on genetic distance, all the 99 genotypes were grouped under ten different clusters. The characters like grains per panicle contributed maximum towards genetic diversity. The maximum inter-cluster distance was recorded between cluster II and VIII. Selection of genotypes in these clusters may serve as potential donors for future hybridization programmes to develop potential recombinants with high yield coupled with different quality traits.