Assessment of Genetic Diversity for Grain Yield in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Genotypes under Humid South Eastern Plain of Rajasthan, India

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most staple food source and grain for more than half of the world’s population, therefore identify the best suitable genotypes for proper crossing is important to produce high yielding potential varieties with best cooking and biochemical quality characters. Diversity helps the plant breeder in selecting the best parents for breeding programmes. The experimental material were evaluated in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The 25 Rice genotypes were divided into 1 to 6 clusters grounded by Mahalanobis’s D2 statistics. Cluster II comprise with the highest number of (8) genotypes from differently originated and cluster I comprise of 7 cultivars exhibit supreme grain yield whereas cluster VI consisted with the least number of (1) genotypes. Maximum inter-cluster distance was recorded between cluster III and VI. Cluster I had the principle mean values for grain yield and Number of productive tillers per plant and Cluster VI had the head mean values for 1000-grain weight. These clusters of cultivars may serve as prospective donors for future hybridization programs to create high yielders if they possess the desired traits.