Integrative Genetic Diversity and Disease Resistance Analysis for Identification of superior Genotypes in soybean

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2024 at Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, to evaluate 30 soybean genotypes for genetic divergence, yield, quality traits, and resistance to Rhizoctonia aerial blight and bacterial blight under natural field conditions. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications, and data were analysed using Mahalanobis D2 statistics, Tocher's clustering, and percent disease index (PDI). The genotypes were grouped into four clusters, showing substantial genetic variability, with Cluster I found early maturing and Cluster IV high yielding. The maximum inter-cluster distance between Clusters II and III indicated good scope for hybridization. Branches per plant contributed most to divergence, followed by days to maturity and plant height. BAUS(M)-15 showed complete resistance to both diseases, while BAUS(M)-11 recorded the highest yield with good oil and protein content. The study identified BAUS(M)-15, BAUS(M)-11, BAUS-102, MACS-1140, and BAUS-103 as promising parents for soybean improvement.