D2 Analysis to Evaluate the Genetic Diversity of Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Abstract

Background: A complex quantitative characteristic, yield is heavily impacted by the environment. The productivity of groundnuts can be increased less effectively through direct selection for grain yield. The study aimed to determine the genetic diversity. Methods: The Mahalanobis D2 statistic was used to quantify the genetic diversity among 24 genotypes of groundnut for seven quantitative and six qualitative criteria. Result: There is sufficient diversity among genotypes, as evidenced by the fact that all of the features in the ANOVA showed significance. High GCV and PCV values were seen for the traits primary-branches/plant (PB), secondary-branches/plant (SB), pod yield/plant (PY), sucrose content (SC), total free aminoacids (TFA), total soluble solids (TSS) and iron content (IC), demonstrating that these traits were well chosen. High heritability and genetic progress as a percentage of mean were observed for plant height, PB, SB, PY, Hundred-pod weight (100-PW), SC, TFA, TSS and IC, demonstrating additive gene-action is in charge of these traits. Twenty-four genotypes were divided into nine clusters using Tocher’s method of clustering, with cluster I being the biggest with sixteen genotypes. Cluster VII and Cluster IX had the greatest inter-cluster distance, which showed that their individuals were more diverse (26.91). In order to obtain transgressive segregants for yield and yield parameters, taking into consideration the cluster distances and cluster means in the current experiment, an emphasis should be focused on establishing crossings between genotypes from clusters VII and VIII that are promising.