Genetic Diversity Studies of Little Millet (Panicum sumatrense)

An experiment was conducted with 23 little millet genotypes laid out in randomized block design in three replications during kharif, 2018 at seven little millet growing locations in India.Data was recorded on six agronomic traits to study genetic divergence.The study revealed that genotypes were grouped into nine clusters and the highest inter cluster distance was found between clusters VI and VIII followed by clusters VI and VII.GLM 368 in cluster VII can be crossed with LMNDL-1 and GPUL 6 of clusters VI and VIII respectively to produce transgressive segregants which after proper evaluations may be released as varieties.Days to maturity contributed highest to total divergence indicating that there was more span in maturity among the genotypes considered in the study. HIGHLIGHTSm Significant difference was observed among 23 little millet genotypes by Analysis of variance.m The genotypes were groped into nine clusters among which seven were solitary.m GLM 368 recorded highest grain yield among all the genotypes studied in the experiment.m Highest inter cluster distance was found between clusters VI and VIII.