Genetic diversity analysis in green gram based on morphological traits

Twenty three advanced breeding lines of green gram, developed at different centres under the All-India Coordinated Research Project on MULLARP, were evaluated by growing them during summer to characterize the genotypes and to assess the magnitude of genetic diversity in the genotypes. Genetic dissimilarities as revealed by Euclidean distances ranged from 2.891 to 10.494. Maximum distance was observed between ML 1354 and MH 721. Based on Euclidean distances four clusters were formed. Cluster II was the largest, and was further divided into two sub-clusters, IIA and IIB, comprising of four and nine genotypes, respectively. Genotypes MH 709 and KM 2272 belonging to cluster I were closely placed as they shared most of the characters. But they could be distinguished with the help of characters like days to 50% flowering, position of pods in the plant and growth habit. Similarly, GM 04-02 and NM 1 in sub-cluster IIA were closely grouped, and they could be distinguished based on the characters leaf size and pod length. Similarly other closely grouped genotypes were also distinguishable on the basis of some characters. It was observed from the average Euclidean distances that ML 1354, SG 1, MH 721, SG 63-14 and MH 709 were divergent genotypes. These genotypes were potential parents in green gram breeding programme.