PHENOTYPIC DIVERSITY ANALYSIS OF MAIZE INBRED LINES USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSISD. SHASHIBHUSHAN, ASHISH REDDY MUCHANTHULA, D. BHADRU AND T. PRADEEPAbstract In the current study, thirty maize inbred lines were evaluated for various morphological traits and phenotypic diversity was estimated based on these traits using the Principal Component Analysis. The trial was carried out with thirty maize inbred lines and three replications laid in RCBD design. Analysis of variance showed that all the traits are significantly varied among the maize lines and the maize line, MGC 137 was found to be the best in terms yield and yield related attributes. The first two components of PCA, PC1 (39.87) and PC2 (21.26) explained the maximum variation with Eigen values of 4.39 and 2.34, respectively. The PCA biplot did not differentiate the maize lines into prominent groups except the lines, PFSR 49 and MGC 137, which lied far away from the other lines. The research concludes that prominent morphological variation exists among the maize germplasm and can be utilized for maize breeding. |