Genetic Diversity in Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) for Fodder Yield and Quality using Morphological Markers - Abstract
Divergence analysis of 60 genotypes for ten biometrical traits was carried out using Mahalanobis D2 statistic. The genotypes were grouped into ten clusters. The cluster I was the largest with 30 genotypes followed by cluster II with 15 genotypes, cluster III with seven genotypes, cluster IX with two genotypes and clusters IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and X had accommodated only single genotype each. The inter cluster distances were greater than intra cluster distances, revealing that considerable amount of genetic diversity existed among the accessions. Based on cluster mean, cluster VIII had
highest mean values for leaf weight, leaf stem ratio and green fodder yield per plant, cluster V had highest mean values for number of tillers per plant, number of leaves per plant and crude protei content. The accessions GGLC 12 and GGLC 19 may serve as potential genotypes for development of Guinea grass varieties with improved fodder yield and quality.