Genetic diversity studies in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)

Genetic divergence among 20 genotypes of brinjal for 25 characters was evaluated in a breeding programme aimed at improving yield potential by using Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The genotypes were grouped into three clusters suggesting considerable amount of genetic diversity in the material. The cluster I had maximum 18 genotypes followed by II and III having each single genotypes respectively. These clusters having maximum number of genotypes, reflecting narrow genetic diversity. The highest intra-cluster distance was observed for cluster I (110.60). The highest inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster II and III (452.85). Noteworthy is that cluster II and III reflected high cluster means for plant height, plant spread NS and EW, days to first harvest, days to 50% flowering, number of flower per cluster, days to last harvest, fruiting span, fruit length, fruit yield per plant, fruit yield per plot, ascorbic acid, total phenolic content, flavonoid content and low percent of fruit and shoot borer infestation and these clusters can be successfully utilized in hybridization programmes to get desirable transgressive segregants.