Genetic Diversity Analysis of Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea L.)

Genetic diversity using Mahalanobis D² statistics was studied in 46 genotypes of Indian mustard in both protected (against diseases and pests) and unprotected conditions for seed yield and its components. The 46 genotypes were grouped into seven clusters based on D² analysis in both conditions. Cluster III was the largest with 18 genotypes followed by cluster IV (12) and cluster I (5) in protected condition. In unprotected condition, cluster II comprised of 19 genotypes followed by cluster III (10) and cluster I, IV (5). The contribution of genotypes in different clusters was almost same in both the conditions which strengthened the conformation of formation of clusters. For both the conditions, it was observed that the same character, number of primary branches per plant exhibited maximum percentage towards divergence. The study revealed that the clusters I and VII possessing high mean values for the most of the desirable traits in both the conditions are desired to be crossed with cluster II and V for exploiting heterosis.