Hararghe coffee fetches premium prices in world market for its best quality. This research was conducted with the objectives of assessing the genetic diversity of Hararghe coffee collections for qualitative traits. In line with objective, 54 coffee collections was evaluated for qualitative traits at Mechara Agricultural Research Center. The analysis of variance revealed a significant difference among the collections for the most of qualitative traits studied. The principal component analysis for qualitative traits showed five principal components exhibited greater than one eigenvalue accounted 68.25% of the total variation. The Euclidean distances estimated for 1326 pairs of coffee collections based on qualitative traits ranged from 1.41 to 11.00 with average euclidean distance. Cluster analysis based on qualitative traits grouped the collection into four clusters. The Euclidean genetic distance between clusters ranged from 4.77 to 7.14 among evaluated collections for qualitative traits. Generally, the result of the study indicates existence of significant genetic diversity among Hararghe coffee collection for qualitative traits that might serve as important genetic resource for future coffee genetic improvements.

Keywords: Cluster Analysis, Genetic diversity, Principal Component Analysis