Genetic diversity is indispensable to sustain genetic gain in breeding programmes. Present investigation in search of genetically diverse clones was conducted in Randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two replications at Zonal Agriculture Research Station (ZARS), Vishweshwaraiah Canal Farm, Mandya, Karnataka, India. Based on Mahalanobis D2 statistic thirty five clones were grouped into eight clusters of which, cluster III was the largest followed by cluster V with 15 and 10 genotypes, respectively. Higher inter-cluster distance was noticed between cluster V and VII (21.439) indicating high genetic diversity among two clusters. Thus, exploitation of genotypes of these two clusters as parents for crossing could produce good segregants. Lower inter cluster distance between cluster II and IV (6.214) and intra cluster distance within cluster II (3.523) and I (3.742) was noticed to indicate the close relationship of genotypes within each of these clusters. Commercial cane sugar (CCS) yield (t/ha) followed by pol per cent juice and single cane weight contributed the highest whereas, CCS (%) contributed least towards the divergence. High cluster mean value for juice quality was exhibited by cluster VIII and IV whereas for cane yield and sugar yield, cluster VI was the best. It has been suggested that genotypes within these clusters could show greater potentiality for breeding purpose by virtue of their desirable characters.

Keywords: Sugarcane, Diversity, Clusters, D2 statistic, Variability