Genetic divergence studies among different genotypes of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)

A study was conducted during kharif 2019, in Uttar Pradesh, India, to evaluate the nature and magnitude of genetic divergence in 15 bitter gourd genotypes. Results revealed the presence of wide genetic diversity. The genotypes were grouped into 4 clusters based on Mahalanobis D2 statistics using Torcher’s method. The clustering pattern of genotypes revealed that the genetic diversity was independent of the geographical diversity. Among the 4 clusters, maximum numbers of genotypes were found in cluster I, while clusters IV was found to be mono-genotypic. Among the 14 quantitative characters studied, number of fruits/plants constituted a maximum of 59.05% contribution to the divergence, followed by fruit yield (q/ha). Ranking of genotypes based on intra-cluster mean performance for these characters which are major contributors of genetic diversity revealed its usefulness in selecting parents for heterosis breeding.