GENETIC DIVERGENCE IN WINTER WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L. EM. THELL.)

Abstract

Genetic divergence of 50 varieties of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell.) was assessed using Mahalanobis' 0 2 statistic. They were grouped into six clusters. Grain weight/main spike, grains/main spike, grain yield/plant, biological yield/plant, l000-grain weight, plant height, days to 500/. flower and days to maturity contributed maximum to total genetic divergence. Based on mean performance, genetic distance and clustering pattern, hybridization involving cvs. Tufilar, Agent, Holdfast, Bolal and Compair belonging to clusters IV, VI, V, III and I, respectively, as parents should give high yielding varieties.