Evaluation of genetic divergence in Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) germplasms

Thirty genotypes of wheat were evaluated for assessing genetic divergence among eleven different characters across one environment for exploitation in a breeding programme for improving yield of barley by using Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The germplasms were grouped into six clusters. Out of six clusters, cluster I had five genotypes, cluster II had two genotypes, cluster III had ten genotypes, cluster IV had two genotypes, cluster V had eight genotypes and cluster VI had three genotypes based on present investigation. The intra cluster distance among various clusters exhibited maximum intra cluster distance for cluster VI and lowest was recorded for cluster II. The maximum inter cluster distance was revealed between cluster I and V followed by cluster I and VI, cluster III and IV, cluster III and VI , cluster II and IV, cluster III and V and cluster II and V. The least inter cluster distance between clusters IV and VI followed by cluster IV and I and cluster I and II cluster. The phenotypic and genotypic path coefficient exhibited high positive direct contribution of harvest index, number of tillers per plant, number grain per spike and biological yield per plant.