Author(s):

Vinay S Patted, Shankergoud I and Prabhakaran AJ

Abstract: Castor (Ricinus communis L.) a non edible oilseed crop belongs to the family Euphorbiacea. Castor is cultivated mainly for industrial trade as non edible oil, since it has no food value.Based on the D² statistic 51 castor genotypes were grouped into three clusters. Cluster I was the largest with maximum number of genotypes (49). Cluster II and cluster III were solitary cluster with single genotype.Plant height up to primary spike ranked first for 340 times with a maximum contribution of 26.67% to the total divergence followed by number of capsules on primary spike. The inter-cluster distances varied from 31.64 (between clusters I and II) to 40.31 (between clusters I and III). All the other inter-cluster D² values were lying between these values. These values suggest that the genotypes from distant clusters exhibit wide diversity. Hence genotypes from divergent clusters should be selected for breeding programme for generating wide spectrum of variability and for selecting superior lines. Cluster I had maximum intracluster distance followed by cluster II. Therefore, it would be desirable to attempt crosses between genotypes belonging to distant clusters for getting highly heterotic crosses. The intracluster D² values of any cluster were less than the intercluster D² values of any two closely related clusters. Genotypes grouped into the same cluster presumably diverge little from one another. Theoretically, crossing of genotypes belonging to the same cluster is not expected to yield superior hybrids or segregants.

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