Estimation of genetic diversity in taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott. Var. antiquorum) germplasm using principal component analysis and cluster analysis

Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) is one of the important underground vegetable crops grown vegetatively in various parts of India as well as in Africa. Only few varieties are recognized for cultivation from agricultural point of view, in spite of its large species diversity. Therefore, forty five genotypes of taro were evaluated in Augemented Block Design with three checks accommodated in six blocks during March to October 2016 at the Vegetable Research Centre, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand to assess the genetic diversity using principal component analysis and cluster analysis. Approximately 77.052 % of variation was recorded due to first five principal components on various genotypes. The genotypes were further subjected to Hierarchical cluster analysis that resulted into seven non-overlapping clusters. The maximum number of genotypes was included in cluster IV. Cluster VII was recorded to have highest mean for maximum traits under study. Therefore PA-4 is used for developing high yielding taro varieties.