Assessment of Genetic Divergence Among Genotypes Using Multivariate Analysis in Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum L.)

Genetic diversity is a prerequisite for effective crop improvement and sustainable yield enhancement intomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The present study was undertaken to assess the extent of geneticdivergence among diverse tomato genotypes using multivariate statistical approaches. Sixty-six tomatogenotypes were evaluated for four economically important yield and quality traits, namely pericarpthickness, total soluble solids, per plant yield, and average fruit weight, under field conditions followinga randomized complete block design with three replications. Multivariate analysis of variance revealedhighly significant differences among genotypes for the combined expression of traits, indicating thepresence of substantial genetic variability. Principal component analysis showed that the first twoprincipal components accounted for 74.51% of the total variation, with yield-related traits contributingpredominantly to genetic divergence. Mahalanobis D² analysis grouped the genotypes into two majorclusters, with high inter-cluster distance suggesting wide genetic divergence among clusters. Singh’scharacter contribution analysis revealed that average fruit weight and per plant yield together contributedmore than 73% of the total genetic divergence. Hierarchical clustering further confirmed the distinctgrouping pattern among genotypes. The results indicate that yield-associated traits play a major role indetermining genetic diversity, and genotypes belonging to widely separated clusters may be effectivelyutilized as parents in hybridization programmes to exploit heterosis and broaden the genetic base fortomato improvement.