Genetic divergence analysis of linseed genotypes

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to assess the genetic divergence among ten genotypes of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) for 16 quantitative traits using a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications at the Botanical Garden, Jahangirnagar University during the Rabi season 2024-2025. Genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) attained their highest values for seed yield per plant (37.16 and 38.58, respectively). Heritability was high for all traits except the number of seeds per capsule and oil content (%). Based on Mahalanobis’s D² statistics, the 10 genotypes were grouped into five clusters; cluster I contained two genotypes, clusters II and III contained three genotypes each, while clusters IV and V were solitary. The greatest inter-cluster distance was recorded between clusters II and III while the lowest between IV and V. Cluster III had the greatest intra-cluster distance, indicating the highest level of heterogeneity among the clusters. Significant contributors to variability included days to first flowering (21.2%), number of primary branches per plant (12.1%) and 1000 seed weight (11.4%). Bangladesh J. Bot. 55(3): 477-482, 2026 (September)