Assessment of Genetic Divergence in among Yard Long Bean ( Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis [L.]) Genotypes

Forty four genotypes of yard long bean ( Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verd.) were investigated to understand the extent of genetic diversity through twelve quantitative traits. Mahalanobis’s D 2 analysis established the presence of wide genetic diversity among these genotypes by the formation of 3 clusters. Cluster I had the maximum number of genotypes i.e 34 and cluster III had only four genotypes. Intra cluster distance analysis revealed that the minimum intra cluster distance was observed in the cluster I. The  inter-cluster  distance  (D)  was  found  to  be  the  maximum  between  the  clusters  II  and  III  and  the same  was minimum  between  clusters  I and  II. The results indicated that 100 seed weight contributed maximum to the total divergence followed by pod yield per plant. Intercrossing among the genotypes belonging to cluster II, V and IV was suggested to develop high yielding varieties with other desirable characters or may be used as potential donors for future hybridization programme to develop superior yard long bean variety with good consumer preference and high pod yield.