Estimation of Genetic Diversity in Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] Genotypes Grown in Gujarat

Background: Genetically diverse parents give an increased chance of genetic recombination and superior expression of hybrid vigour. Mahalanobis D-2 statistics is an important tool for calculating the amount of genetic diversity in the populations and for assessing the relative contribution of various components to the total genetic divergence. Methods: Thirty genotypes of mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] were grown in a randomized block design with four replications at S.D.A.U., Gujarat during kharif, 2019 to study genetic diversity. By using Mahalanobis's D-2 statistics, all possible 435 pairs of thirty genotypes were computed for ten characters. Result: D-2 analysis indicated that material was genetically diverse. Twelve clusters were formed by dividing the genotypes. To become highly genetically diverse, the inter-cluster distance should be high (Distance between cluster XI and cluster IX; cluster XI and cluster X), which can be used for hybridization programme. Cluster X followed by cluster I found appropriate for within group hybridization due to the presence of most heterogeneous genotypes indicating high intra-cluster value. Cluster data revealed that genotypes in cluster X, cluster VIII and cluster IV had desirable traits for yield improvement. These clusters could be directly selected for breeding programme. Contribution to total divergence was higher from number of branches per plant, pod length and 100-seed weight.