Genetic Divergence Among Safflower Genotypes (Carthamus tinctorius L.) by Multivariate Analyzes

Carthamus tinctorius L. is an oil seed, used both for human consumption and for industrial purposes. It is a crop that presents wide adaptability to various ecophysiological conditions, although it presents great productive potential and wide adaptability, it is still necessary to obtain technical information regarding its cultivation and of cultivars adapted and improved. In this sense, the estimation of genetic divergence using multivariate techniques has become a common tool among breeders. In view of the above, this research aimed to evaluate the genetic divergence of safflower genotypes originate from the Germplasm Active Bank (BAG) of the Instituto Mato-grossense do Algodão (IMA-MT) by means of multivariate analysis, aiming at the extension of information of this culture. The genetic divergence was estimated using multivariate analysis based on the Euclidean average distance, using the clustering optimization methods of Tocher and Hierarchical “UPGMA”. The results obtained allowed to identify the existence of genetic divergence among the evaluated genotypes, highlighting genotypes 5 and 38, which presented greater genetic divergence, constituting in potential sources of interest for the use in program of genetic improvement that aim at the development of superior cultivars of safflower.