Genetic divergence in rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes grown in Kumaun Himalaya

Abstract

Classification of germplasm collection is a prerequisite for distinguishing genetically close and divergent types for various plant breeding programmes. By using advanced biometric techniques such as multivariate analysis based on Mahalanobis's 0 2 statistic [1] it has now become possible to quantify the degree of genetic divergence amongst biological populations and assessing of relative contribution of various desirable attributes of breeding and agronomic value to the total divergence. Information on this aspect in rice, barring a few reports from different parts of the country [2-6] is still lacking on rice genotypes grown in Kumaun region of north-west Himalayas.