Evaluation of Genetic Diversity through D\(^2\) Statistic in Urdbean (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper)

Abstract

The present investigation was conducted at the Soybean Research Farm, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, JNKVV, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. The objective of the investigation was to assess the genetic diversity among 96 different urdbean genotypes in relation to their yield and its attributing traits. The experimental design employed was a Randomized Complete Block Design with two replications. A comprehensive set of observations was made on 13 distinct yield contributing traits from five randomly selected plants within each genotype. Based on D2 Statistics analysis, the 96 urdbean genotypes were classified into 10 distinct clusters. Conspicuously, the cluster with the highest numbers of genotypes was designated as cluster I. A remarkable finding emerged from the analysis of intra-cluster distances, with cluster VIII, displaying the greatest distance within its constituents. The evaluation of inter-cluster distances revealed significant dissimilarity between clusters IV and VII, suggesting presence of considerable genetic variation between these clusters, indicating a distant genetic relationship between genotypes. In terms of the genetic diversity analysis, it became evident that the yield related traits exerting the most substantial influence on the overall genetic divergence among the 96 urdbean genotypes were number of pods per plant followed by biological yield per plant, plant height, 100 seed weight. Based on the findings from both inter-cluster distances and individual performance assessments, specific genotypes viz., (TAU 2, TJU 134, TJU 24, T9) were shortlisted as promising genotypes for inclusion in a hybridization programme. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of genetic variability and lay the groundwork for further breeding programmes aimed to enhance urdbean crop productivity.