IC divergence in coconut

Abstract

A study was conducted at the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Pilicode and in the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during 1981-82 with the objectives of assessing the extent of variability present in the 24 cultivars of coconut maintained in the germplasm collection at Pilicode and to assess their genetic divergence using Mahalanobis D2 statistic. All the 24 cultivars were planted during 1924-25, and hence were of the same age group and were receiving the same management practices. Observations on 17 economic characters were recorded from 120 palms at the rate of 5 palms per cultivar. Four observations at quarterly intervals were recorded during the 12 month period of study. The data were subjected to relevant statistical analyses and the results were interpreted.