Genetic diversity assessment in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using multivariate biplot analysis for yield and its components

Aim: Evaluation of genetic diversity among 64 bread wheat genotypes for morpho-physiological and biochemical traits to select better parent for wheat breeding programme. Methodology: Multivariate analysis was done for 25 morpho-physiological and biochemical traits. ANOVA, cluster and principal component analysis were performed to evaluate genetic diversity between the genotypes for selected traits. Results: Significant variability was observed for all the traits under study. Hierarchical clustering grouped 64 bread wheat genotypes into six clusters. Cluster II had maximum 19 genotypes while cluster III had least three genotypes. Cluster IV exhibited the highest intra-cluster distance genotypes whereas cluster II and V showed maximum inter-cluster distance.PCA revealed that first eight components exhibited eigenvalues>1 and accounted for 80.4% variance. Biplot depicted that CTD-II, biological yield/plot, grain yield/plot, days to maturity, crude protein, gluten content, and days to anthesis contributed most to PC-I and PC-II. Interpretation: Genotypes of cluster II and V showed high genetic diversity and can be utilized in hybridization programs. Simultaneous selection of these traits can improve wheat crop performance, aiding future improvement programs. Key words: Genetic diversity, Grain yield, Principal component, Triticum aestivum, Wheat genotypes