Genetic Diversity Studies using D2 Statistics in Pearl Millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] Genotypes under Aridity

The present study was carried out to estimate the genetic diversity for yield and its contributing traits in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) Genotypes. The experimental material was consisting of 32 pearl millet released genotypes. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications during Kharif 2021 under rain fed conditions. The observations were recorded on ten randomly selected plants from each genotype in each replication for nine different quantitative traits. Based on D2 values, 32 genotypes were grouped into 3 clusters. Among 3 clusters, cluster I had more number of genotypes (23) followed by cluster II (6), and cluster III (3). The maximum intra cluster distance was observed in cluster III (12.2). The highest inter cluster distance was observed between cluster III and cluster I (18.29) followed by cluster III and cluster II (16.72), and cluster II and cluster I (14.24).The cluster III (49.96) had significant and higher cluster mean for seed yield per plant.