Studies on Genetic Divergence in Pea ( Pisum sativum L.)

Genetic divergence using Mahalanobis D2 statistic was studied in 21 genetically diverse genotypes for days to flower, plant height, pods/plant, seeds/pod , pod weight/plant and 1000-seed weight. The genotype were grouped into six clusters. The cluster I was the biggest with 11 genotypes followed by clusters II and III with four and three genotypes, respectively. Cluster IV, V and VI were unique since they had only one genotype. The maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between clusters II and VI and was followed by clusters II and V, and clusters III and VI indicating wide divergence among these clusters, which also suggested that the genetic architecture of the genotypes in one clusters differed entirely from those included in other clusters. The diversity among the genotypes measured by inter-cluster distance (D value) was adequate for improvement of pea by hybridization and selection. The genotypes included in the diverse clusters can be used as promising parents for hybridization programme for obtaining high heterotic response and thus better segregants in pea.