An experiment with seventy genotypes of bread wheat carried out to study the nature and magnitude of divergence using Mahalanobis D2 statistics, in randomized block design with three replications. The data for twelve important quantitative traits were recorded from the genotypes raised. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation were observed for grain weight per main spike followed by biological yield per plant, grain yield per plant, 1000 grain weight, harvest index, number of productive tillers per plant and number of grains per main spike. High heritability coupled with high to moderate genetic advance expressed as per cent of mean were observed for grain weight per main spike, biological yield per plant, grain yield per plant, 1000 grain weight, harvest index, number of grains per main spike, number of productive tillers per plant and plant height. The seventy genotypes of bread wheat were grouped into five clusters using Tocher’s method. The genotypes in cluster I and cluster V exhibited high degree of genetic diversity. The cluster Ⅳ had the highest mean values for number of grains per main spike; grain yield per plant and biological yield per plant grain yield per plant, grain weight per main spike, biological yield per plant, 1000 grain weight contributed maximum towards genetic divergence. | Assessment of genetic diversity in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes
