Estimation of genetic divergence among pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duchesne ex Poir.) genotypes based on important mineral nutrients

Abstract

The present investigation was aimed to estimate the extent of genetic divergence among 76 pumpkin
(Cucurbita moschata Duchesne ex Poir.) genotypes based on nine important mineral nutrients. The
experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications of
each genotype during spring-summer season of the year 2014. Based on the Mahalanobis D2 analysis,
all the 76 genotypes were grouped into 4 clusters, out of which maximum number of genotypes
were accommodated in the cluster III (50), followed by cluster I (21), cluster II (4) and cluster IV (1).
Further, highest inter-cluster distance (8.615) was recorded between clusters I and cluster IV, hence
they were designated as divergent clusters. Hence, crossing between the genotypes of cluster I and
IV will have more chances for getting heterotic hybrids in F1 and transgressive segregants in F2
generations for further quality improvement in pumpkin.