Genetic analysis in Pacific and Nicobar Islands coconut collections conserved at Andaman Islands, India

Abstract

Characterization and genetic analysis of coconut accessions collected from Pacific Ocean Islands and Nicobar Islands for morphological, physio-chemical traits and fruit component traits resulted into six distinct clusters with maximum inter-cluster distance D2 value was obtained between cluster IV, V and VI. Cluster VI resulted with high copra yield (244. 3 g), dwarfness and other yield attributing characters followed by clusterIII. Among the accessions high heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for fruit weight, weight of dehusked fruit, kernel weight, shell weight and plant height which had direct influence on the copra yield/ palm in coconut. Hence, due weightage for these traits must be given in coconut selections for the improvement of copra yield.