Genetic Diversity Assessment of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) Collections in Ethiopia Using Multivariate Analysis

Abstract

Okra is a traditional vegetable crop in Ethiopia but it has not given research attention and considered a minor crop. Thus this research was conducted to assess genetic diversity among Ethiopia okra collections based on agro-morphological traits using multivariate analysis for further utilization of the crop and contribute to develop high yielding varieties and to improve the quality. A total of 35 okra
landraces from three districts (Guba, Mandura and Dangure) were evaluated for 23 agro-morphological and eight qualitative traits in 2017 at Pawe Agricultural Research Center in randomized complete block design. Results of analysis of variance showed significant differences among okra landraces for all traits. Results of principal component analysis indicated the first four principal component axes (PCA1 to PCA4) accounted 65.59% of the total variation, of which PCA1 and PCA2 had larger contribution of 22.09 and 19.34%, respectively. The 35 okra landraces were grouped into 12 distinct clusters from Euclidean distances matrix using Unweighted Pair-group Methods with Arithmetic Means (UPGMA) of which Cluster IX consisted of 6 (17.14%), Cluster II, VI and X consisted each five and other clusters consisted of 1 and 3 landraces. The study results showed the presence of genetic diversity among landraces for all traits suggested that selection could be effective to develop okra varieties for high fruit yield and other traits.