Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, 7(3): 514-519 (September 2016) ISSN 0975-928X http://ejplantbreeding.com 514 Research Article Genetic divergence studies in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) S.S. Gangurde 1 , M.P. Moharil* 1 , P.V. Jadhav 1 , M.S. Wandhare 2 , Dipti Gawai 1 , N. Dikshit 3 , P. Suprasanna 4 and R.G. Dani 1 1 Biotechnology Centre, 2 Genetics and Plant Breeding, Department of Agricultural Botany, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University, Akola 444104 (Maharashtra state) India 3 National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Dr. PDKV Campus, Akola (Maharashtra state) India 444104 4 Plant stress physiology and Biotechnology section, Nuclear Agriculture and Biotechnology Division, BARC, Mumbai 400085 E-mail: mpmoharil@gmail.com (Received:21 Apr 2015; Accepted:13 Aug 2016) Abstract Present investigation was made to study the nature and magnitude of genetic divergence in 66 foxtail millet genotypes using multivariate analysis through Mahalanobis „D 2 statistics. The analysis suggested considerable genetic divergence among the material. D 2 statistics resulted in five clusters. Based on relative magnitude of D 2 , the genotypes were grouped into five different non-overlapping clusters. Cluster I, having 36 genotypes, emerged with highest number of entries; cluster II were constituted by 15 genotypes. Cluster III comprising 13 genotypes. Cluster IV and V having one genotype each. The maximum intra-cluster distance was observed for cluster II, followed by cluster III and cluster I. The highest inter-cluster distance was recorded between cluster IV and III followed by cluster IV and V, then cluster IV and I followed by cluster III and I. Among the 13 characters studied highest contribution in manifestation of genetic divergence was exhibited by grain iron content (ppm) followed by flag leaf length, grain zinc content (ppm), straw weight, flag leaf area, plant height, flag leaf width, panicle weight and grain yield. Key words Foxtail millet, Genetic Divergence, D 2 , Canonical analysis Introduction Millet is one of the oldest cereals and resources of farmers in the drought prone area of the world. Millets are able to grow in poor soils in the drier regions and in the hottest climates, where no other cereal can grow and yield high (Howarth et al., 2002). Foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) is one of the oldest cultivated millet crop serving as food grain in Asia and as forage/fodder in America, Australia and Africa. Foxtail millet ranks second in the world‟s total production of millets and is an important staple food for millions of people in southern Europe and Asia (Marathee, 1993). According to Vavilov (1926), the principal centre of diversity for foxtail millet is East Asia, including China and Japan. Several hypotheses concerning the origin and domestication of foxtail millet have been proposed (Kawas and Sakamoto, 1984; Nguyen and Pems, 1985; Vavilov, 1926). A multiple domestication hypothesis is widely accepted. Foxtail millet is non-glutinous, like buckwheat and quinoa, and it is not an acid forming food, so it is soothing and easy to digest. The millet bran is used as animal feed in China extensively. The protein in foxtail millet is relatively high with leucine and methionine. Some foxtail millet varieties contain 100% amylopectin, and the starches contained in foxtail, proso and barnyard millets are more digestible than maize starch. There is wide genetic diversity available and characterizing these resources is prerequisite for the genetic improvement of its cultivars. The generalized distance concept of Mahalanobis' is based on multivariate analysis of quantitative traits. It is used to measure the genetic divergence and to classify the genetic stock into distinct groups. Intercrossing between more divergent parents is expected to generate a broad spectrum of variability and selection to be adopted in the segregating generations. Considering this, the present study was taken up in foxtail millet to understand the diversity available in the genetic stocks. Materials and method Sixty six accessions from National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Dr. PDKV, Akola and some districts of Maharashtra were collected and grown in kharif 2014 in the Field of agricultural botany, Biotechnology Centre, Department of Agricultural Botany, Dr. Panjarao Deshmukh agricultural University, Akola. Each accession accommodated in one row with row spacing of 45 cm and plant to plant distance of 10 cm. All accessions were raised in Randomized Block Design with three replications. Data were recorded on various morphological traits such as number of tillers, days to 50 per cent flowering, flag leaf length (cm), flag leaf width (cm), flag leaf area (cm 2 ), panicle length (cm), panicle weight (g), plant height (cm), straw weight (g), 1000 grain weight (g), grain Zinc content (ppm), grain Fe content (ppm) and grain yield/plant (g). The mean data recorded on ten random plants per entry in each plot were subjected to analysis of variance as well as multivariate analysis of D 2 statistics DOI: 10.5958/0975-928X.2016.00066.1