GENETIC DIVERSITY AMONG CANDIDATE PLUS PLANTS (CPPs) IN JATROPHA (Jatropha curcas)

The present study was conducted to evaluate genetic diversity among the progenies of 28 candidate plus plants (CPPs) selected from 487 populations of 20 accessions collected from seven different origins (South Africa, Cape Verde, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia). The progenies of CPPs were considered as genotypes and after diversity analysis they were grouped into five clusters. Eight genotypes were included in cluster V and were maximum number followed by seven genotypes in cluster III. The minimum number of genotypes was contained in cluster IV. The first eight principal component axes were accounted for 97.78% of the total variation with eigen values of above unity. The distance between cluster I with cluster II was maximum and the minimum distance revealed between cluster III and cluster V. The intra cluster distance within cluster I was maximum and close to cluster II. The lowest mean value for days to first flowering and first fruit maturity was found in Cluster I. The high mean values for most of the desirable characters exhibited by cluster I and II. It has been suggested that the genotypes from most diverge clusters could be utilized directly or used as parents in future breeding program.