Genetic diversity assessment in physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.)

Mahalanobis' D-square (D-2) statistics was applied to assess diversity in the 9 genotypes collected of semi-arid region of India (7 genotypes from Gujarat and Rajasthan for normal toxic and two from Orissa csmcri's plantation of non toxic nature. These genotypes were grouped into five. Cluster I and III had two genotypes, cluster II had three genotypes and cluster VI and V contributed as solitary germplasms. The genotypes in cluster II had the maximum divergence which was closely followed by cluster III. The maximum and minimum divergence was revealed between clusters I with cluster V and cluster I and cluster V with cluster IV, respectively. In general, cluster III and IV exhibited high and low mean values, respectively for most of the characters. It has been suggested that for varietal improvement, hybridization among the genotypes of divergent clusters should be done in order to obtain better results in terms of variability and diversity.