Genetic divergence in soybean (Gycine max (L.) Merrill.)

Mahalanobis D' analysis was employed to study the genetic diversity of 50 soybean genotypes. A wide genetic diversity was observed among the 50 genotypes tested. Based on D' of Mahalanobis, the genotypes were grouped into ten clusters. The clustering pattern indicated that the geographic diversity need not necessarily be related to the genetic diversity. This could. be evidenced from the study that genotypes from the same eco-geographic region did scatter in different clusters. Similarly genotypes from different eco-geographic regions were identified in one cluster. The intercluster distance between clusters VI and VIII was the highest and the lowest was between clusters VII and IX. Among the ten characters, hundred seed weight contributed maximum to the genetic divergence followed by number of pods and plant height.