Cultivated sugarcane (Saccharum spp. complex, 2n = 80-120) belongs to the genus Saccharum of the family Poaceae. Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. complex) is an important cash crop of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world for its distinct characteristic of high sugar concentration accumulated in the stalk. Genetic diversity gives species the ability to adapt to changing environments, including new pests and diseases and new climatic conditions. In order to obtain the wide spectrum of variation among the segregants the genotypes belonging to the distant clusters, 36 genotypes of Sugarcane were subjected to detailed investigation for the underlined objectives to estimate the extent of genetic diversity among early generation clones of sugarcane based on morphological characterization and to identify donors from diverse group for yield and quality parameters. The analyses of variance revealed highly significant variation among the clones for all the characters studied such as NMC, cane height, cane thickness, single cane weight, juice brix %, juice sucrose %, juice purity %, CCS %, Cane yield and CCS yield. Based on D2 values, clustering of the 36 genotypes were carried out which resulted in ten diverse clusters. Cluster I was found to be the largest with 18 genotypes followed by Cluster III with four clones. Cluster II and Cluster IV were comprised of three clones each. Two genotypes each constituted Cluster V and Cluster VI. Rest of the clusters consisted of one genotype each. The clustering of clones could be utilized for identification of diverse parents for crossing programme to get maximum recombination which may generate high variability for various traits of interest. Clustering pattern and genetic diversity analysis gives an idea for developing the diverse genetic base for successful sugarcane breeding programme for improvement in the cane yield and quality characters. PC (2011-12)-579, PC (2011-12)-581 were superior for many cane yield and quality contributing characters viz. cane height(m), juice brix percent, juice sucrose percent, juice purity percent, ccs percent and ccs yield(t/ha). Clones PC(2011-12)-561, PC(2011-12)-562, PC (2011-12)-566 and PC (2011-12)- 565, PC (2011-12)-569, PC (2011-12)- 573 PC (2011-12)- 590 were identified for NMC and single cane weight, respectively. Clones viz. PC (2011-1 2)-568, PC (2011-12)-571, PC (2011-12)-576 were recommended for cane yield (t/ha).

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