Variability and Genetic Divergence in Rice Bean

Genetic variability and divergence studies conducted on 50 genotypes of Rice bean revealed significant differences for all the twelve characters studied. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation were noticed for harvest index, number of ischolar_main nodules per plant, seed yield per plant and pods per plant. Whereas number of branches per plant exhibited moderate GCV and PCV values. High heritabity coupled with high genetic advance were also observed for the above characters indicating additive gene action and emphasized the effectiveness of selection for the improvement of these traits. Substantial amount of genetic diversity was observed among 50 genotypes studied. All the 50 genotypes were grouped into 22 clusters by using Mahalanobis D2 statistics. In general the inter cluster distances were higher than intra cluster distances. Maximum inter cluster distance was observed between cluster XI and XVIII. Maximum intra cluster distance was observed between cluster IX followed by cluster IV.