Genetic Divergence Analysis among Sesame (Sesamum IndicumL.) Accessions in Middle Awash, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT This research was conducted to assess genetic distance, extent, and pattern of diversity among sesame accessions. A total of 64 sesame Accessions were evaluated in an 8 x 8 lattice design with two replications in 2021 at Werer Agricultural Research Center. Analysis of variance revealed that there was a statistically significant difference among the accessions for all traits except for 50% days to emergence and the number of seeds per pod. Principal components analysis showed the first five PCAs viz. PC1 (21.9%), PC2 (11.00%), PC3 (15.6%), PC4 (18.3%), and PC5 (9.5) with a total contribution of 76.3% variation. The dendrogram was constructed using the Unweighted Pair-group Method with Arithmetic Means to separate Accessions into five distinct clusters. Sesame accessions with high seed yield and high mean values for other desirable traits were grouped into Cluster I Cluster V. Cluster IV and Cluster V had the highest inter-cluster distance. Accession in Cluster V (Acc.241297) could be crossed with other clusters to come up with promising segregation for further improvement programs.