Divergence studies for morphometric and fodder parameters in Grewia optiva Drummond

Abstract

Genetic divergence was studied for sixty accessions of Grewia optiva Drummond collected from eight districts of Himachal Pradesh, using MAHALANOBIS’ D2 Statistics. These progenies were grouped into four clusters, where inter cluster distance indicated higher divergence between Cluster I and Cluster II (5.652). Dendrogram was constructed with the help of SPSS-16 statistical software. Controlled breeding among the progenies of clusters having the maximum mean values regarding the desired characters, especially crude protein, total leaf biomass can be of immense use to attain better planting stock through selection and breeding and to obtain better heterotic vigour through hybridization of the most divergent progenies.