Assessment of Genetic Diversity in Confectionery Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Germplasm Urs K. L. Girishraj1,*, Uma M. S.2 1Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, G.K.V.K., UAS-Bengaluru, 560065, India, (M. Sc. Agriculture) 2Professor and Head, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, V.C. Farm, Mandya-571405, India *email: me.kl1202.gr@gmail.com
Online published on 2 January, 2017. Abstract The main emphasis so far in sunflower improvement was on grain yield, oil content and pest/diseases resistance, yet in case of confectionery sunflower, the effort to improve quality traits will definitely enhance the value of this crop in terms of consumer preference and industrial uses. An investigation was taken up at the Main Research Station (MRS), Hebbal, Bengaluru, India, to determine the extent of genetic divergence with respect to ten characters in 49 sunflower genotypes consisting of 47 confectionery sunflower and two check cultivars. Univariate and multivariate analysis of variance revealed the presence of significant variation among the genotypes. Mahalanobis D2 statistics indicated the presence of substantial genetic diversity. The genotypes were grouped into nine clusters. Based on the intercluster D2 values for various characters, potential lines were identified from clusters VII and IX for crossing programme. Among the investigated characters, Protein content exhibited high contribution towards genetic divergence followed by oil content, head diameter, seed yield per plant and hull content with minimum contribution. The present study indicates that the inclusion of EC734792, EC734800, EC734807, EC734808 and EC734810 as potential donors for future hybridization programme would result in the development of superior confectionery sunflower cultivars. Top Keywords D2, Genetic divergence, Confectionery sunflower germplasm. Top |