Genetic diversity of ash gourd (Benincasa hispida (Thunb) Cogn.) genotypes

A study on genetic divergences was carried out on 45 diverse ash gourd genotypes. Based on D2 analysis, the genotypes were grouped into four different clusters, where the cluster I possessed higher number of genotypes (37) followed by the cluster II (3), and III, IV, V, VI, VII had only one genotype. The genotypes collected from different location were grouped into different clusters. The maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between the cluster III and cluster VII. In case of intra-cluster distance, the maximum distance was observed in the cluster II. Among the twenty two traits studied, maximum contribution was made by fruit circumference followed by number of fruits per vine, fruit yield per vine, average fruit weight. Considering cluster mean, the genotypes of cluster VI and cluster VII could be selected for yield and yield attributing characters. The wider genetic diversity was observed in cluster V, VI, VII which indicate the potentiality of this diverse genotype collection for providing basic material for future breeding programmes.