Abstract:
An experiment was carried out with 40 rapeseed and mustard germplasms in the experimental farm of
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. Dhaka during November 2005-March 2006 with a view to
study the genetic divergence. Diversity was estimated by cluster distance. All the genotypes were
grouped into six clusters. Principal component analysis, Cluster analysis and Canonical Variate
analysis exhibited similar results. Significant variations were observed among the genotypes for all
the parameters under study. Cluster 11had the maximum 10 and cluster I and III had the minimum 5
number of genotypes. The highest intra-cluster distance was observed in cluster V. The highest intercluster
distance was observed between cluster I and VI and the lowest was found between the cluster
III and V. The characters secondary branches/plant, siliquae/plant and yield/plant contributed
maximum towards divergence among the rapeseed and mustard genotypes. The genotypes which had
moderate inter-cluster distance coupled with medium to high yield could be utilized for screening
suitable materials from large population. Considering diversity pattern, genetic status and other
agronomic performances some of the materials viz. BO-6948 and SAUYC from cluster I; BD-9063.
BD-9064 and BO-9071 from cluster 11; BD-9068 and BO-9077 from cluster Ill; BD-9078. BD-9106
and BO-6949 from cluster IV; BO-9079 and BO-9081 from cluster V and BO-9100 and BD-7812
from cluster VI were selected as superior parents for rapeseed and mustard improvement programme.
