Assessment of Genetic Diversity in Morphological and Yield Traits of Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) by Mahalanobis' D² Statistics

Abstract

The study was conducted during rabi season (September, 2022–February, 2023) at District Seed Farm, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, India to investigate the diverse brinjal genotypes for fruit yield and its component traits. Thirty genotypes of brinjal were evaluated systematically for polymorphism on the basis of nine morphological traits in Randomized Block Design with three replications. Analysis of D² values revealed significant genetic variation, grouping the genotypes into eleven highly divergent clusters. Cluster-6 housed the highest number of genotypes (8), while cluster-11 had only one genotype. A low intra-cluster distance indicated homogeneity in the genotypes in a particular cluster. The superior cluster means for fruit yield plant^-1, fruits plant^-1, plant height, primary branches plant^-1, harvesting index and days to 50% flowering were recorded in cluster-5. The mean intra and inter cluster D² values, revealed that the least intra cluster distance was in cluster-11 followed by cluster-2, while the maximum intra cluster distance was recorded in cluster-10. The highest inter cluster distance was recorded between cluster-9 and cluster-5 followed by cluster-7 and cluster-5 suggesting the use of genotypes from these clusters would give high heterotic hybrids or superior segregants, while least inter cluster distance was recorded between cluster-2 and cluster-4. The traits harvesting index (40.23%) and fruit yield plant^-1 (19.77%) contributed maximum towards divergence, which accounted for 60% of total divergence. From the study it was evident that the genetic heterogeneity in the genotypes made them suitable candidates for hybridization programs aimed at exploiting heterosis and producing superior segregants.