Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important staple food and primary nutrient source in the many countries of the world. In the present study, 108 diverse red rice genotypes were assessed to decipher genetic diversity in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two replications. Mahalanobis’ D2 statistics was performed for grain yield and yield contributing features along with grain zinc, iron and protein content to calculate the genetic divergence between the genotypes. Cluster VI (1843.40) recorded maximum intra cluster distance followed by cluster V (1462.46), indicating significant genetic variation among the red rice genotypes within these clusters and maximum inter cluster distance was found between cluster V and VI (4178.22) followed by cluster IV and V (2691.43). Cluster IV exhibited the highest mean values for panicle length, protein content and Zn content. Cluster VI recorded the highest mean values for plant height, test weight and iron content. Hence, the genotypes from cluster IV and VI could be used for hybridization with the genotypes of other clusters to develop high yielding varieties with high grain zinc, iron and protein content. The lowest inter cluster distance was found between cluster II and III (872.56) followed by cluster I and III (998.76) which indicates that the red rice genotypes falling into these clusters are genetically close. The maximum contribution towards divergence was made by plant height, followed by zinc content, iron content and test weight.