Assessment of Genetic Diversity in Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Genotypes for Drought Tolerance

An attempt was made to assess the genetic diversity for the evaluation and utilization of drought-tolerant wheat genotypes in future breeding approaches for yield enhancement. The experiment was conducted with 40 bread wheat genotypes evaluated under drought conditions at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, , Hisar, India during the cropping season 2020-21 and 2021-22. The genotypes were assessed for sixteen yields and their components. The investigation reflected enough genetic variability among the genotypes for the traits under under drought stress condition. All the genotypes were categorized into six distinct clusters, with cluster II being the largest one containing 14 genotypes, followed by cluster I with 8 genotypes. The analysis of the inter-cluster distances revealed the maximum genetic distance between clusters II and VI, which could be utilized in a hybridization program to achieve a broad range of variation among the sergeants. The genotypes of cluster V showed superiority for grain yield plot-1, harvest index, biological yield plot-1, grain weight spike-1, number of spikelets-1, number of grains spike-1, spike weight, spike length, number of tillers meter-1 and peduncle length. Therefore, it could be concluded that the genotypes of cluster V may be considered potential parents to obtain heterotic response and accordingly better segregants for grain yield under drought conditions.