Genetic diversity in Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) for fibre yield.

An experiment with sixty genotypes of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) was conducted for determining the diverse genotypes based on eleven fibre yield contributing characters during kharif, 2013 and these genotypes were grouped into six clusters. Cluster I was the largest containing 51genotypes followed by Cluster II, Cluster III, Cluster IV and Cluster V with two genotypes each and Cluster VI was solitary. The highest inter cluster distance was observed between Cluster V and III followed by Cluster V and VI and Cluster V and Cluster I. Fibre yield plant−1 (53.28%) followed by dry stick weight plant−1(22.99%) and fresh green weight plant−1(9.89%) have contributed maximum per cent of contribution towards divergence. Cluster III which consists of two genotypes has high cluster mean values for most of the fibre yield contributing characters, followed by Cluster VI and Cluster IV while Cluster V has the lowest cluster mean values for most of the characters. Based on per se performance of genetic diversity and cluster means, genotypes belonging to Cluster III, IV, VI and I may be chosen for further improvement in roselle for fibre yield.