~ 2349 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2019; 7(1): 2349-2351 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 IJCS 2019; 7(1): 2349-2351 © 2019 IJCS Received: 06-11-2018 Accepted: 10-12-2018 AA Mehta Assistant Professor, Department of Forest Products Utilization College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, India LK Behera Assistant Professor, Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, India SK Jha Associate Professor, Department of Forest Biology and Tree Improvement, College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, India CA Dholariya SRF, Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, India DB Jadeja Retd. Professor and head, Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, India Correspondence AA Mehta Assistant Professor, Department of Forest Products Utilization College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat, India Genetic divergence study for growth characters among the accessions of Safed Musli AA Mehta, LK Behera, SK Jha , CA Dholariya and DB Jadeja Abstract The present investigation was carried out in College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat to study the genetic divergence for growth traits among 10 accessions of safed musli (Chlorophytum borivilianum Sant. & Fernand) collected from different parts of India. The genetic divergence in safed musli was estimated based on the growth traits of accessions grown. Accordingly, a field experiment was performed using a randomized block design and three replications to compare divergences in different growth traits. Tocher's clustering method was performed using the Mahalanobis distance. D2 analysis grouped the 10 accessions into 3 clusters. In view of genetic divergence, tuber yield contributed the highest divergence over other growth attributes. Cluster II contained maximum number of accessions. Maximum inter cluster distance was found between Cluster -II and Cluster-III. Therefore, accession C1 and C7, C8, C6, C5, C2 are to be selected for further breeding purpose as these accession are with maximum genetic divergence. So, these accessions may be selected for improvement programme. Keywords: Safed musli, genetic divergence, growth characters Introduction Safed musli (Chlorophytum borivilianum) is a known medicinal plant for its use from ancient age. The Indian Pharmacopoeia (1966) has recognized safed musli as one of the 85 drug plants, whose ingredients are used in various pharmaceutical preparations. The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), set up by the Government of India has ranked safed musli as the 6 th among the 28 selected priority medicinal plants, for cultivation and export (Purohit and Prajapathi, 2003; Gayathri and Uma, 2009) [20, 5] . The Board encourages mainstream cultivation of safed musli by farmers by extending a subsidy of 20% through National Horticultural board on project cost (Desale, 2013) [4] . Dried roots of C. borivilianum, popularly known as safed musli in trade in India, is considered as wonder drug in Indian system of medicine (Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha) due to its aphrodisiac and sex tonic properties. Because of great therapeutic importance, safed musli roots are the major constituents of more than 100 Ayurvedic formulations (Oudhia, 2000) [17] . Genetic variation is the basis for adaptation and survival of living organisms under changing environmental conditions. Knowledge of genetic diversity is important for any breeding strategy and provides a scientific basis for the better management of the genetic heritage of forest species (Poltri et al., 2003) [19] . On the other hand, clustering progeny according to similarity has become essential for selecting the crossing cultivars based on quantitative traits of economic interest (Manfio et al., 2012; Silva et al., 2012) [15, 24] . For years, the use of multivariate analysis has been an important tool for genetic diversity studies, helping to organize germplasm banks and determine breeding strategies for different species: Yam (Dioscoria spp.) (Rivera-Jiménez, 2011) [23] ; Aerial yam (Dioscorea bulbifera) (Beyene, 2013) [1] ; Asparagus adscendens Roxb (Thakur, 2016) [26] ; Velvet Bean (Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC.) (Chinapolaiah, 2016) [3] and others. In this study a successful attempt was made to find out the genetic divergence among ten accessions of safed musli for growth traits in South Gujarat conditions. Material and Methods The present experiment was carried at instructional farm of College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari. For the genetic divergence study, 10 accessions collected from different parts of India were evaluated. 10 accessions of Safed musli (Chlorophytum