Genetic Divergence in Mulberry (Morus alba L.)

Genetic divergence as measured by Mahalanobis D2 statistics was studied in 44 genotypes of mulberry under the subtropical conditions of Jammu. All the genotypes got grouped in 6 clusters, thirty seven in cluster I, three in cluster II, one each in rest of the four clusters. The clustering patterns showed mostly the genotypes fall in clusters accordingly to their geographical origin. The D2 values varied from 0.00 to 9.92. The observation on the criteria of selection of genotypes as parents for hybridization revealed that genetically different genotypes are included in cluster II and VI (86.95) followed by cluster VI and V (55.31) and least genetic difference (0.00) ranged between cluster III and IV. Hence, it would be logical to incorporate crossing between Goshoerami (cluster II) and Chinese white/Sujanpur/S1 (cluster VI). Second choice for future hybridization studies would be Goshoerami (cluster II) and ME-0149 (Cluster V). The intra cluster difference 0.00 (lowest) in cluster III, IV, V and VI and highest of 9.92 in cluster I. Knowledge on clustering of economic characters for hybridization for specific characters was also generated. The analysis of estimating the contribution of various characters towards the expression of genetic divergence indicated that weight of 100 leaves, total shoot length, leaf yield, length of the longest shoot, leaf petiole ratio, number of shoots per plant and leaf shoot ratio contribute maximum to the genetic divergence (86.89%) in the material and hence must be given greater attention in selecting.