Genetic Diversity Studies of Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] Germplasm Accessions using Cluster and Principal Component Analysis

Background: Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] is a self-pollinated diploid leguminous crop (2 n=40) originated from China. It is called as 'Cow of the field' or 'Gold from soil' because of high oil and protein content. The objective of the study is to determine genetic diversity using cluster and principal component analysis among 135 soybean germplasm. Methods: The experiment was conducted at the Department of Pulses, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during rabi, 2021-22. A total of 135 germplasm was laid down in augmented block design II. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were performed to determine the genetic diversity among 135 soybean germplasm accessions using GRAPES and Ggt 2.0 software respectively. Result: Based on the cluster and principal components analysis, wide diversity were observed in MAUS 60, JS 98-61, MACS 1460, EC 18736 and PK 1038 genotypes and traits viz., number of clusters per plant, number of pods per plant and single plant yield contributed to divergence. The above mentioned genotypes and traits could be used for selection and future breeding programme.