Dispersion Analysis studies in Desi Cotton (Gossypium arboreum L.) based on Wilk’s Criteria and Canonical Vectors

Gossypium arboreum is a native cotton species of India. It is cultivated from extreme north of Punjab to Kanyakumari in the south and Assam in the east to Kutch (Gujarat) in the west of country. G.arboreum genotypes matures in 150 to 180 days and is usually having coarse and short fibred and has high degree of resistance to diseases and insect pests and is very valuable germplasm resources and have great export value. The investigation for fifty-eight desi cotton (Gossypium arboreum L.) genotypes was undertaken to estimate the degree of divergence among the fifty eight genotypes of desi cotton and thereby to identify potential and diverse genotypes for their utilization in hybridization program based on wilk’s criteria and canonical vectors. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among fifty eight genotypes collected from different cotton growing states in respect of all the twelve morphological characters under study indicating the presence of substantial degree of variability. The canonical root analysis revealed about 80.19 per cent of the total variation was accounted by the first six canonical roots. In root I seed cotton yield per plant, in root II initial plant stand, in root III lint index, in root IV boll weight, in root V number of monopodia per plant and in root VI plant height were important sources of divergence. Among twelve characters studied, seed cotton yield per plant (g) contributed maximum towards divergence followed by initial plant stand, ginning percent, seed index and number of bolls per plant, indicating that yield and yield contributing characters contributed maximum towards divergence.