Genetic variability, character association and path analyses effects on fiber yield and yield attributing morpho-agronomic traits of tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius L.)

Abstract

Jute (Corchorus spp.) is a natural fiber crop having a lower extent of genetic variability due to its self-pollinating nature. The success of any breeding program for variety development primarily depends on the presence of genetic variation in the parental genotypes. A field experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design at ManikganjStation of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) during 2019-2020. The genetic divergence of 58 tossa jute (C. olitorius) genotypes including two pre-released standard varieties (O-9897, BJRI Tossa pat 4) and 56 accessions were studied to select genotypes having the most divergence in natural rainy condition. The jute genotypes were categorized into five clusters based on Mahalanobis D2 analysis. Cluster I and IV showed maximum inter-cluster distance (181.44) while the maximum intra-cluster distance (16.15) was recorded in cluster I. Cluster V revealed the highest values for number of nodes, stem mid-diameter, core diameter, green weight with leaves, dry stick weight and dry fiber weight per plant while cluster IV showed higher means for plant height, green bark thickness and leaf area. The highest contribution (47.14%) was wielded by plant height of total deviations. The results recommended that hybridization between genotypes of cluster V, IV and III could provide a wide range of discrepancies in the segregating generation which could offer chance for isolation of good genotypes with high fibre yielding lines.