Vol. 11, Issue 2 (2022)

Author(s):
Nidhi Tyagi, HR Sharma, RK Dogra, Meenu Gupta and Praveen Kumar Maurya

Abstract:
Assessment on genetic diversity and principal component analysis among the genotypes is important for planning an effective hybrid breeding program as the genetically diverged genotypes are known to produce high heterotic effects. The present study was carried out at the HRS and KVK, Kandaghat, Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (H.P.) India during pre-kharif seasons of 2017-18. All the characters under study showed considerable divergence and the genotypes were grouped into five clusters. Among the five clusters, cluster V was the largest, comprising of 10 genotypes. The inter-cluster distance was larger than the intra-cluster distance suggesting wider genetic diversity among the genotypes of different groups. The maximum and minimum intra- cluster distances were found in cluster I and cluster IV, respectively. The inter-cluster D² values was maximum between the cluster II and V indicating wide range of genetic diversity between these two clusters. The desirable cluster mean value was observed in cluster V for all the traits except seed cavity size and TSS. The cluster analysis and PCA revealed that considerable variation existed among genotypes that could be implicated in selection of cucumber for the development or improvement of germplasm and cultivars.