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ThesisItem Open Access Heterosis and combining ability studies using line x tester analysis in castor(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, 2021) Mohanty, Susanta Kumar; Jagadev, P.N.; Pradhan, B.; Mohanty, I.C.; Mishra, B.K.The present investigation entitled “Heterosis and combining ability studies using line x tester analysis in castor” was conducted at AICRP on Castor, RRTTS, Bhawanipatna, Odisha over three years during kharif seasons of 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. The experimental material consisted 40 entries viz., two pistillate lines(DPC-23 and M-571), twelve monoecious lines(DCS-64, DCS-86, DCS-102, DCS-105, DCS-107, DCS-108, DCS 109, DCS-110, DCS-112, DCS-118, DCS-119, DCS-123), their resultant 24 crosses developed through line x tester mating design and two check hybrids(DCH-177 and DCH 519). These entries were tested in randomized block design with three replications. Observations were recorded on ten characters in all the three years of experimentation and the pooled mean values were subjected to statistical analysis for interpretation. Four crosses viz., M-571 x DCS-110, M-571 x DCS-112, M-571 x DCS-105 and DPC-23 x DCS-110 had high per se performance along with significant positive heterosis over better parent (heterobeltiosis) and over best check DCH-177 (standard heterosis) for seed yield per plant. The cross DPC-23 x DCS-123 exhibited positive and significant heterobeltiosis and more than 10% standard heterosis for seed yield per plant.Based on the GCA effects, the parental lines DPC-23, DCS-64, DCS-102 and DCS-105 were good general combiners for earliness; M-571, DCS-108, DCS-109, DCS-110 and DCS-119 were good combiners for total length of primary spike and effective length of primary spike; M-571, DCS-110 and DCS-112 were good combiners for characters like number of capsules in primary spike, 100-seed weight and seed yield per plant. Two cross combinations viz., DPC-23 x DCS-123 and M-571 x DCS-105 manifested high and desirable SCA effect for seed yield per plant and for one or more component traits. Besides these two, other three crosses viz. M-571 x DCS-110, M-571 x DCS-112 and DPC-23 x DCS-110 were better in per se performance and heterosis with respect to seed yield per plant and also exhibited significant SCA effects for one or more component traits.The parental lines M-571 and DCS-105 were found to have average stability for seed yield per plant over varying environments. The genotype DCS -105 was also having average stability for total length of primary spike and DCS-110 was having average stability for total length of primary spike and 100-seed weight over varying environments. The crosses M-571 x DCS-118 and DPC-23 x DCS-107 were with above average seed yield per plant and average stability for the trait over varying environments. The best five crosses in respect of per se seed yield per plant viz., M-571 x DCS-110, M-571 x DCS-112, M-571 x DCS-105, DPC-23 x DCS-110 and DPC-23 x DCS-123 exhibited linear regression greater tan unity ( bi>1) and non significant S2 di which indicated their high responsiveness and suitability to favourable environments.The expression of heterotic response over better parents (heterobeltiosis) and standard check(standard heterosis) indicated the real superiority of the five hybrids(M-571 x DCS-110, M-571 x DCS-112, M-571 x DCS-105, DPC-23 x DCS-110 and DPC-23 x DCS-123) which could be exploited further through multilocation testing over different environments for judging their importance from the commercial point of view. Besides, the parental lines with good general combining ability and stability for different traits can be utilized in hybridization programme for improvement of the respective characters.ThesisItem Open Access Genetic basis of yield variation in advanced elite lines of slender grain rice(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, 2020) Kumari, Lalita; Bastia, D.N.; Pradhan, B.; Samal, K.C.The increasing demand for superior rice in domestic and international market is directly defined by its appearance qualities. Thus, efforts to enhance rice productivity with keeping good grain quality are on the top priority in rice breeding. In the present experiment entitled “ Genetic basis of yield variation in advanced elite lines of slender grain rice” an attempt has been made with the objective to determine the nature and magnitude of genetic variability, degree of association between yield and its component traits, direct and indirect effects on grain yield and multivariate analysis for genetic diversity to short out most promising lines. The present experiment was carried out with 52 advanced elite lines of slender grain rice including 6 checks, evaluated for eleven traits following RBD with two replication during kharif, 2019 at Rice Research station, O.U.A.T., Bhubaneswar. Analysis of variance confirmed that experimental materials possessed significant variation for all the traits under study. This was also supported by mean performance and rang of variation. Moderate to high magnitude of GCV and PCV were observed for no. of filled grains per panicle, flag leaf area, L/B ratio and yield. High degree of heritability estimates were recorded for majority traits. High genetic advance% over mean was observed for plant height, number of effective tillers, flag leaf area, number of filled grains, 1000 grain weight, L/B ratio and yield. Higher estimates of GCV and PCV coupled with high heritability and high genetic advance were observed in flag leaf area and L/B ratio, flag leaf area, number of filled grains per panicle and yield indicating prevalence of additive gene action in the expression of these traits. From the correlation studies it was observed that grain yield had highest positive correlation with number of effective tillers per plant, number of filled grains per panicle and fertility % (r=0.720) followed by number of effective tillers per plant (r=0.600) and number of filled grains per panicle(r=0.570). From path studies highest positive direct effect on yield was exhibited by fertility% (0.512) followed by number of filled grains per panicle (0.369), number of effective tillers, 1000grains weight, panicle length, plant height and flag leaf area. The number of effective tillers per plant exerted highest (r= 0.230) indirect effect on yield via fertility%. D2 values of all the fifty-two genotype combination based on 11 studied traits ranged from 6.61 (between OR 2674-14-4-4 and OR 2674-14-4-5) to 1762.45 (between OR 2762-1 and Samba mahsuri). L/B ratio and 1000 grains weight had maximum contribution to genetic divergence. Based on Mahalanobis D2 statistic 52 genotypes were grouped into 8 clusters. Cluster I was largest comprised of 13 lines, followed by cluster II with 11 lines, cluster III consisted of 10 lines, cluster IV accommodated 6 lines, cluster V comprised of 5 lines, cluster VI and cluster VII both composed of 3 lines and cluster VIII is monogenic. The intra cluster D2 value ranged from 00.00 (cluster VIII) to 926.511 (Cluster II). The inter cluster D2 value was found highest between cluster IV and Cluster VI (1398.889) and lowest between Cluster I and Cluster VIII (178.322). The genotypes OR 2762-35, Prativa, OR 2762-7, OR 2762-2 were found promising on the basis of yield and also revealed appreciable grain qualities and plant architectureThesisItem Open Access Genetic evaluation of late rice genotypes under transplanted condition(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, 2020) Srikanth, Sandu; Kar, Jayashree; Pradhan, B.; Bastia, D.N.; Tripathy, S.K.The present investigation “Genetic evaluation of late rice genotypes under transplanted condition” was carried out with an objective to assess genetic variability, character association, direct and indirect effect of component traits on yield and genetic divergence among the genotypes to identify superior genotypes with higher yield and ancillary traits to be utilized in future breeding programme. The experiment was carried out on the research field of EB-I section of Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, CA, OUAT, during Kharif, 2019.Thirty-two rice genotypes including three check varieties were grown in transplanted condition in a Randomized Block Design with three replications. Observations were recorded on twelve yield attributing characters like days to 50% flowering, plant height, panicle length, panicle number, number of fertile grains per panicle, fertility percentage, 100-grain weight, flag leaf length, flag leaf area, biological yield, grain yield per plant and harvest index. Statistical analysis revealed significant difference among the genotypes with respect to all characters under study. High PCV and GCV reported for no. of fertile grains per panicle, 100-grain weight, biological yield and grain yield per plant indicated that those traits were under genetic control. High heritability was reported for days to 50% flowering, biological yield, 100-grain weight and grain yield per plant. High GCV coupled with high heritability and genetic advance for characters like biological yield, 100- grain weight, grain yield per plant indicated the presence of additive gene action which could be exploited through simple selection. Character association studies indicated significant positive correlation of grain yield per plant with traits like plant height, panicle length, 100- grain weight, flag leaf length, flag leaf area, biological yield and harvest index both at phenotypic and genotypic level. So, selection of these characters simultaneously would improve the rice yield. Path analysis revealed that plant height had highest direct positive effect on grain yield per plant followed by harvest index, number of panicles per plant and days to 50% flowering. Correlation coefficient of panicle length, number of panicles per plant, number of filled grains per plant with grain yield per plant was highly significant. Thirty-two rice genotypes were grouped into six clusters out of which Cluster I and Cluster II were largest clusters with 11 genotypes each, Cluster V and VI were two mono- genotypic clusters. Grain yield per plant contributed highest to overall genetic diversity followed by harvest index. Inter cluster distance was maximum among Custer I and Cluster IV and least between Clusters I and V. Cluster VI was characterized by highest plant height, panicle length, panicle number, number of filled grains per panicle, flag leaf length, flag leaf area, biological yield and grain yield per plant.ThesisItem Open Access Heterosis and combining ability analysis for quantitative traits including seed yield in line x tester crosses of urdbean (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper)(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, 2020) Satpathy, Tapasee; Mishra, T.K.; Pradhan, B.; Dash, Manasi; Samal, K.C.The present study was carried out on Blackgram using twenty-three genotypes viz. five lines (OBG-32, B-3-8-8, OBG-33,Ujala and Pant U-30) , three testers (LBG-787,Vamban 7, and Pant U-31) and fifteen F2 crosses developed through line x tester design. The materials were evaluated in Randomized Block Design with three replications for yield and its component traits at EB-II, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, CA, Bhubaneswar during Rabi, 2019-20. Observations on 10 quantitative characters including seed yield/plant were taken on selected plants. Data on each quantitative traits like days to 50% flowering, days to maturity, plant height, no.of primary branches, no. of clusters/plant, no.of pods/plant, pod length, no.of seeds/plant, 100- seed weight and seed yield/plant were subjected to statistical analysis for estimation of heterosis and ANOVA for combining ability analysis of the characters . The analysis of variance and ‘F’ test revealed the existence of significant differences among parents and crosses for all 10 characters, indicating for further analysis for heterosis and combining ability effects. Two types of heterosis viz, relative heterosis negative directions for yield and its component traits. The maximum amount of positive relative heterosis was found in cross B-3-8-8 x LBG-787 (30.15%) and heterobeltiosis in Ujala x LBG787 (-44.9%) for seed yield/plant. On the basis of gca effect, the genotypes exhibiting highest effect were B-3-8-8 (0.80gm) for seed yield/plant, Ujala (3.14cm) for plant height, Ujala (1.56) for no.of clusters/plant, Ujala (0.25cm) for pod length. For 10 characters, the crosses exhibiting significant sca effect. were OBG-32 x LBG-787 for days to 50% flowering ; OBG-32 x LBG-787, OBG-33 x LBG-787, OBG-32 x Pant U-31 and OBG-33 x Pant U-31 revealed the significant days to maturity ; Pant U-30 x LBG-787 for plant height ; Ujala x LBG-787 for no.of primary branches/plant ;OBG-33 x Pant U-31 for number of clusters/plant ; Ujala x Vamban7 for no.of pods/plant ; Ujala x Pant U-31 for pod length ; B-3-8- 8 x Vamban 7 for no.of seeds/pod ; OBG-33 x Pant U-31 for 100- seed weight and Ujala x Vamban7 for seed yield/plant. In the investigation most of characters revealed the predominance of additive gene effects to non-additive gene effect. Therefore, in self-pollinated crops like blackgram, hybridization followed by simple selection can be useful for characters showing more of additive type of gene action in inheritance whereas heterosis breeding for the characters showing non-additive type to bring about improvement of the crop.ThesisItem Open Access Genetic evaluation of advanced breeding lines for yield attributing characters and Bacterial leaf blight resistance in rice(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, 2020) Manaswini, Bolla GowriI Sri; Sahu, S.; Pradhan, B.; Bastia, D.N.; Mishra, M.K.Rice is the most important food crop where it is used as a principal food for greater than 60% of people of world. There is a continuous need for increasing production of rice all over the world to feed the increasing population. One way to increase production is to improve the yielding ability of the rice varieties. In addition, rice is grown under diversified ecosystems, where it suffers from many biotic and abiotic stresses. Among the biotic stresses found in rice, bacterial leaf blight caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is an important vascular disease which causes around 20-50% of yield reduction. So, the present study aimed at screening some advanced breeding lines of rice for resistance against bacterial leaf blight, besides higher grain yield. The experiment involving 74 advanced breeding lines, one BLB resistant and one susceptible check was conducted in Randomized Block Design with two replications at the Rice Research Station, Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar during Kharif 2019. Artificial inoculation for BLB disease was carried out by leaf clipping method at active tillering stage. Observations were recorded for various yield attributing characters and yield. Significant variation was noticed for all the traits studied among the test breeding lines denoting the existence of wide genetic variation which mean and range of variation also supports. Traits like fertile grains per panicle and grain yield showed high GCV and PCV estimates. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percent of mean was observed for plant height, fertile grains per panicle and grain yield hinting that the inheritance of these traits is controlled by additive gene action. In the correlation study, plant height, panicle length, days to 50% flowering, 100- grain weight, grain fertility%, effective tillers per plant and fertile grains per panicle were significantly correlated with grain yield. Out of these traits, plant height, days to 50% flower, harvest index and 100-grain weight had high direct contribution to yield. Following D2 analysis, the 76 genotypes were classified into 4 clusters which contains 73,1,1,1 genotypes in cluster I,II,III,IV respectively. Number of fertile grains/panicle, plant height, grain yield exhibited high relative contribution to divergence and fertility percentage, days to 50% flowering moderate contribution. Screening for bacterial leaf blight resistance revealed that out of 76 genotypes studied, 9 of them showed resistance, 24 showed moderate resistance, 32 were moderately susceptible and 11 were susceptible. Almost all the resistant genotypes are showing higher grain yield per hectare except two entries which are showing moderate grain yield. Some genotypes showed higher yields than the local check variety. The genotypes SVIN305, SVIN312, SVIN313, SVIN315, SVIN332, SVIN230 are resistant and also showing higher yields. The genotypes SVIN305 and SVIN313 are showing higher yield than the resistant check Lalat. Thus, these genotypes can be selected as highly promising and can be used as parents in future breeding programmes.ThesisItem Open Access Character association and diversity analysis in greengram(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, 2020) Nayak, Gyanisha; Lenka, Devraj; Pradhan, B.; Dash, Manasi; Tripathy, S.K.Greengram is the 3rd most important pulse crop in India next to chickpea and redgram. It is popular because of its nutritional quality and suitability to multiple cropping systems. There was not much systematized breeding work undertaken for breeding of superior high yielding genotypes and high seed protein content genotypes in greengram. Concerted research efforts are needed for genetic improvement through genetic diversity study and to understand the diversity in different genotypes for assessment and creation of diverse line for further breeding work. In the present investigation, sixty-six greengram genotypes were evaluated in RBD with three replications at EB-II of Plant Breeding & Genetics department during rabi 2019-20, taking ten quantitative characters including yield to study the genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, nature of association among the characters as well as their path-coefficient, genetic divergence and seed protein content. All the genotypes showed highly significant variation in all the traits studied indicating the existence of high genetic variability among them. Seed yield of the genotypes ranged from 1.33 to 3.73g per plant. High yielding genotypes were CNO-59, AB-2557, KPS-2 and HUM-1. Estimates of PCV & GCV were high for seed yield per plant. All the characters exhibited high magnitude of heritability in broad sense except number of branches per plant and pod length. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was noticed in plant height, number of clusters per plant, number of pods per plant, hundred seed weight and seed yield per plant indicating the role of additive gene action and highlighting the importance of those traits for effective selection. Characters such as hundred seed weight, number of seeds per plant, pod length, number of pods per plant, number of clusters per plant and plant height showed highly significant positive correlation with seed yield both at genotypic and phenotypic level. Number of pods per plant showed the highest positive direct effect on yield followed by plant height at either level, suggesting priority should be given to these characters for yield enhancement. With the help of Mahalanobis D2 -statistics sixty-six genotypes were grouped into 6 clusters, which signified no parallelism between clustering and source of origin. Maximum contribution towards genetic divergence was found in plant height. Crosses between the genotypes from cluster IV & IV, III & VI and IV & V may produce transgressive segregants in later generations. Results of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed HUM-10, PDM-139 and ML-613 were scattered relatively away from other genotypes and could be used in crossing programmes. Protein analysis indicated that further breeding work could be done using the genotype HUM-10 as a source of germplasm for development of varieties with high seed protein contentThesisItem Open Access Estimation of genetic variability for yield and yield components in short grain aromatic rice genotypes(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, 2020) Patnaik, Monalisa; Bastia, D.N.; Pradhan, B.; Muduli, K.C.Among various quality traits in rice, aroma is one among the foremost attractive traits in aromatic rice. In Odisha, more than hundred indigenous aromatic cultivars are being cultivated. These cultivars have short grain with strong aroma and better adapted to our relatively warmer climate. Most of the local aromatic rice varieties are low yielding due to their tall stature and hence low response to fertilization. In spite of high value and demand, there has not been major progress in breeding work thus far. The present study “Estimation of genetic variability for yield and yield components in short grain aromatic rice genotypes” was done with the objective to estimate the nature and magnitude of genetic variability, correlation between yield and its component characters, direct and indirect effects on yield, multivariate analysis to study the diversity and find out promising genotypes. The present study was carried out with 55 short grain aromatic rice genotypes, evaluated for ten different quantitative and qualitative traits following randomized block design having two replications at Rice Research Station of Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar in kharif, 2019. Statistical analysis indicated that experimental materials have significant amount of variability for all the traits. High GCV and PCV were recorded for traits like no. of effective tillers, panicle weight, flag leaf area, no. of filled grains, 1000 grain weight and yield. High degree of heritability were observed for the traits like days to 50% flowering, plant height, no. of effective tillers, flag leaf area, no of filled grains per panicle and 1000 grain weight indicating low influence of environment. High genetic advance was observed for no. of filled grains followed by plant height, flag leaf area and yield. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance recorded for plant height, no. of filled grains and flag leaf area suggesting predominance of additive gene action in the expression of these characters and hence selection based on phenotypic performance for these traits would be effective. Yield was positively, significantly correlated with no. of effective tillers, panicle weight, no. of filled grains and fertility% as estimated from correlation analysis indicating the importance of such component traits for realization of high yield in rice. Among all the characters, number of filled grains per panicle had the maximum positive direct effect on grain yield followed no. of effective tillers, fertility%, flag leaf area, panicle weight, days to 50% flowering. Yield, days to 50% flowering and plant height had maximum contribution to genetic divergence. Based on Mahalonobis’ D2 analysis all the genotypes were grouped into sixteen clusters. Cluster I was the largest having eight genotypes followed by Cluster II, III with six genotypes each, Cluster IV, V, VI contained five genotypes each, Cluster VII, VIII contained four genotypes each, cluster IX, X XI, XII contains two genotypes. Cluster XIII, XIV, XV and XVI are monogenic clusters. The intra cluster distance ranged from 00.00 (cluster XIII, XIV, XV, XVI) to 13.196 (CLUSTER I). The inter cluster distance was recorded maximum between cluster XIV and Cluster XII (27.771). The promising genotypes in respect to their yield performance were OR 2594-13 (39.48 kg/ha), OR 2594-10 (38.38kg/ha),OR 2594-17 (30.70 kg/ha),OR 2594-1 (30.16kg/ha) andOR2594-8(28.51kg/haThesisItem Open Access Genetic variability and character association for straw yield in late duration rice varieties(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, 2020) Sibadatta, Agnija; Dash, Manasi; Pradhan, B.; Rout, G.R.The major byproduct of rice production, rice straw and husk, are an excellent source of lignocellulosic biomass for renewable and sustainable bioenergy production. The present investigation “Genetic variability and character association for straw yield in late duration rice varieties” was hence conducted to have an idea about the performance of 28 rice varieties for straw yield as well as for studying the correlation and genetic diversity based on fourteen straw yield and associated characters.The evaluation of genotypes was done in completely randomized block design with two replications during Kharif, 2019. Plant samples were collected at three growth stages i.e., the active tillering stage,reproductive stage and physiological maturity stage. Observations were recorded on the following quantitative traits, viz. plant height, tiller number per plant, leaf number per tiller, tiller diameter, leaf dry weight, tiller dry weight, leaf area, days to flowering, panicle number per plant, hundred seed weight, grain yield and straw yield. High significant differences among the genotypes with respect to all the characters was observed in the analysis of variance, indicating wide variability. Coefficient of variation was less than 15 percent for all the traits. High magnitude of PCV and GCV was recorded for grain harvest index, straw harvest index and straw yield. Except for leaf area and days to 50% flowering rest characters expressed high heritability. Genetic gain under selection was low for tiller diameter and days to 50% flowering, moderate for plant height and leaf area while high for rest of the characters. Grain harvest index, straw harvest index and straw yield recorded both high heritability and genetic advance. Highly significant positive correlation of straw yield was seen with plant height, leaf dry weight, tiller dry weight, days to flowering and straw harvest index and negative significant correlation with tiller per plant, leaf per tiller and grain harvest index. At phenotypic level the highest positive direct effect on straw yield was expressed by straw harvest index, followed by grain yield, leaf dry weight, hundred seed weight, days to flowering and tiller diameter. The D2 statistics grouped the genotypes into five clusters out of which four were multi variety clusters and one was monotypic. The genotypes belonging to the most divergent cluster combination I x III were Bhanja, Meher, Utkal Prabha, Hasanta, Santep Heap-3 and Sumit. These genotypes when used in a hybridization programme will produce transgressive segregants for the two important characters i.e., grain and straw yield. All the genotypes exhibited rapid increase in plant height, leaf per tiller, tiller diameter, leaf area, leaf and tiller dry weight from vegetative stage to maturity stage except for tillers per plant which showed a negative trend. Overall, the rice varieties Pratikhya, Bhanja and Utkal Prabha have shown promising performance to be considered as dual purpose crop i.e. for food and bioenergy.ThesisItem Open Access Studies on genetic variability and divergence in M4 generation of Rice bean (Vigna umbellata Thunb, Ohwi & Ohashi)(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, 2020) Suvadra, J S; Mishra, Dayanidhi; Pradhan, B.; Tripathy, S.K.; Dash, ManasiThe present investigation “Studies on genetic variability and divergence in M4 generation of Rice bean (Vigna umbellata Thunb, Ohwi & Ohashi)” was undertaken with the objective to determine the extent of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance present in the mutants, association of various characters with yield and among themselves and the genetic divergence among the mutants in rice bean. The experiment was conducted with twenty four mutants selected from M3 population of one improved rice bean variety, viz; RBL 50 initially treated with three doses each of EMS (0.2%, 0.4% and 0.6%) and gamma-rays (150, 200 and 250 Gy) along with one control (parent variety) in RCBD design with two replications at the Experimental Block of Instructional Farm of OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha during Kharif, 2019. The analysis of variance revealed highly significant variations among the mutants for all the ten quantitative characters studied. All the mutants were found earlier in attaining 50% flowering, shorter in plant height and higher seed yield than the parent variety. High magnitude of PCV and GCV estimates were recorded for seed yield. Least difference between PCV and GCV estimates were observed in length of pod, no. of seeds/pod, 100-seed weight, seed yield, days to 50% flowering and plant height indicating higher role of genetic factors. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was recorded for seed yield, plant height, clusters/plant, no. of pods/plant, no. of pods/cluster indicating prevalence of additive gene action thus selection based on phenotypic performance for these traits would be effective. High heritability with high GCV was recorded for the seed yield suggesting a reliable amount of genetic advance. Seed yield, both at phenotypic and genotypic level showed significant positive correlation with all other component traits under investigation except 50% flowering which showed significant negative correlation and length of pod that exhibited non-significant positive correlation. Path analysis revealed that no. of pods/cluster, clusters/plant, 100-seed weight and days to 50% flowering exhibited positive direct effect on seed yield indicating the importance of such traits in achieving higher seed yield in rice bean. Based on Mahalonobis’ D2 statistics, entries were grouped into eight clusters. Highest inter-cluster distance was recorded between cluster VIII and cluster III followed by cluster IV and cluster VIII while cluster VII exhibited highest intra-cluster distance. Mutants from these clusters could be utilized as parents in further improvement programmes. Seed yield, no. of seeds/pod, 100-seed weight, plant height, days to 50% flowering, length of pod and clusters/plant had maximum contribution towards the genetic divergence. Considering the cluster characteristics and mean performances, mutants included in cluster III, IV, V, VII and VIII were found promising. Principal component analysis revealed that first five principal components accounted for 86.59% of the total variance through days to 50% flowering, no. of seeds/pod, length of pod, no. of pods/plant, plant height, no. of pods/cluster, 100-seed weight and branches/plant.
