Green Global
Foundation   Journal
...an emerging window for scientific research and publication across the globe

D2 -ANALYSIS AND SELECTION CRITERIA IN POTATO (Pages : 91 - 93)

The experiment was conducted at Botanical Research Garden of Rajshahi University, Rajshahi during rabi season of November 2006 to March 2007 to ascertain the nature and magnitude of genetic diversity present in the material which would ultimately help to identify parents for future breeding program. Genetic divergence among 30 potato genotypes based on tuber yield and its component characters were estimated using D2 statistic. Divergence analysis grouped these genotypes in to five clusters. The inter-cluster distance was higher than intra-cluster distances suggesting wider genetic diversity among the genotypes of different groups. The highest intra-cluster value was maximum in cluster II (1.73) and minimum in cluster IV (0.43). The highest inter-cluster distance was in between cluster II and IV (?D2 =8.123) indicated maximum exploitation of heterosis on hybridization. Cluster II showed the highest mean values for most of the characters and clusters III and V showed the maximum mean values for plant height, number of leaves/plant and tuber yield, while cluster IV revealed the lowest mean value for all the characters. Three characters e.g. plant height, number of leaves/plant and fresh weight/plant showed maximum contribution towards total divergence among different characters. Genotypes were much in use having the above mentioned characters in cluster II and III would offer a good scope for the improvement of this crop through hybridization and rational selection.Download