Study on Genetic Divergence Using D2 Analysis in Greengram (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek)

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the genetic variability parameters such as genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), heritability, genetic advance, as well as to study genetic divergence and identify suitable parents for divergence among 53 different Greengram genotypes, including one check variety. The experiment was conducted during the kharif 2022-2023 at the experimental farm of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Naini Agricultural Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology, and Sciences in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. A randomized block design with three replications was employed for the study. Thirteen characteristics were observed and recorded, which include: days to 50% flowering, days to 50% pod initiation, days to maturity, plant height, number of primary branches per plant, number of clusters per plant, pod length, number of seeds per pod, biological yield, harvest index, seed index and seed yield per plant. IPM-2-14 exhibited the highest mean performance in terms of seed yield per plant, followed by MGG-385, among all the genotypes. The PCV values were consistently higher than the corresponding GCV values for all traits, indicating the influence of environmental factors on trait expression. The number of pods per plant and number of clusters per plant recorded the highest GCV and PCV values. The number of pods per plant exhibited both high heritability and genetic advance. 53 genotypes were categorized into six clusters through D2 analysis. Cluster I had the maximum number of genotypes, the maximum intra cluster distance was observed in cluster IV, inter cluster distance between cluster III and was observed in cluster VI. The highest cluster mean was recorded by Cluster VI for plant height. The Percentage contribution of characters was maximum by seed yield per plant followed by the number of pods per plant and number of clusters per plant towards genetic divergence.