2023, Vol. 8, Special Issue 5

The nature and magnitude of genetic divergence was measured in thirty-two sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) germplasm lines collected from different parts of NE region were evaluated at Regional Agricultural Research Station Diphu, Karbi Anglong, Assam, India using Mahalanobis’s D2 statistic. The population was grouped into four clusters and the parents from the respective clusters were selected based on their cluster distances and cluster means for hybridization programme. Cluster I was the largest with 24 genotypes followed by cluster II (4), III (3), while cluster IV with one genotype. The study revealed D² values from 101.0543 to1145.0130, indicating significant divergence in the genotypes.