Abstract

A field experiment was conducted with 25 mustard (Brassica spp. L) genotypes on the farm of Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur, Bangladesh from November 2009 to February 2010, to study the genetic diversity present among the genotypes. Eleven quantitative characteristics, namely plant height, days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, number of primary branches per plant, number of secondary branches per plant, number of siliqua per plant, diameter of siliqua, length of siliqua, number of seed per siliqua, 100 seed weight and yield per plant were taken into consideration. The analysis of variance revealed a remarkable variability among the genotypes in terms of the specified characteristics. Cluster analysis was used for grouping the 25 mustards (Brassica sp. L) genotypes into six clusters. Cluster II had the maximum number (13) of genotypes, while Clusters IV, V, and VI had the minimum number (2) of genotypes. The highest inter-cluster distance was observed between Clusters I and IV, while the lowest inter-cluster distance was observed between Clusters V and VI. Cluster II (D = 4.91) had the highest intra-cluster distance, while Cluster II (5.607) had the lowest intra-cluster distance. The characteristics such as plant height, number of secondary branches per plant, and number of siliqua per plant contributed greatest towards the divergence in the mustard genotypes. Considering diversity analysis, the genotypes, BARI-11, BARI-12, and BARI-9 from cluster III had the highest yield, early flowering, and fruit maturity; the genotypes DAULAT and BARI-14 from Cluster IV had the highest number of siliqua per plant, number of secondary branches per plant, and yield per plant and may be considered as the best parents for future hybridization program.