Genetic divergence for grain yield in pigeon pea (Cajanuscajan L. Millspaugh) germplasm

Genetic divergence of twenty seven genotypes of pigeon pea was studied for thirteen quantitative characters. Genetic divergence was estimated using Mahalanobis's statistics (D2) and principal component analysis. Cluster analysis revealed 27 genotypes were grouped into 6 clusters. The lines chosen from the same ecogeographic region were found scattered in different clusters which indicated that genetic diversity and geographic distribution were not necessarily related. The intercluster distances were higher than the intra-cluster distance reflecting wider genetic diversity among the genotypes of different groups. The highest inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster I &IV whereas the highest intra-cluster distance was found in the cluster II indicated that the highly divergent types existed in these clusters. Days to maturity was found to be the maximum contributors towards the total divergence. The genotypes from these clusters may be used as potential donors for future hybridization programme to develop early pigeon pea variety with good grain yield.