Genetic divergence and its implication in breeding of desired plant type in coriander -Coriandrum sativum L.-

Seventy germplasm lines of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) of diverse eco-geographical origin were undertaken in present investigation to determine the genetic divergence following multivariate and canonical analysis for seed yield and its 9 component traits. The 70 genotypes were grouped into 9 clusters depending upon the genetic architecture of genotypes and characters uniformity and confirmed by canonical analysis. Seventy percent of total genotypes (49/70) were grouped in 4 clusters (V, VI, VIII and IX), while apparent diversity was noticed for 30 percent genotypes (21/70) that diverged into 5 clusters (I, II, III, FV, and VII). The maximum inter cluster distance was between I and IV (96.20) followed by III and IV (91.13) and I and VII (87.15). The cluster VI was very unique having genotypes of high mean values for most of the component traits. The cluster VII had highest seeds/umbel (35.3 ± 2.24), and leaves/plant (12.93 ± 0.55), earliest flowering (65.05 ± 1.30) and moderately high mean values for other characters. Considering high mean and inter cluster distance breeding plan has been discussed to select desirable plant types