Multivariate Analysis for Agro-Morphological and Quality Traits in Groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) Genotypes in Eastern Ethiopia

It is imperative to study the level of genetic variability available in the existing groundnut genotypes due to the fact that, the aim of groundnut breeding programs across the world is to develop new varieties that meet the needs of growers, processors, consumers, and overall market demands. The present study was carried out to assess the extent of genetic variability among groundnut genotypes for agro-morphological and quality traits. Thirty-six groundnut genotypes were evaluated in a 6 x 6 simple lattice design during 2023 post-rainy season under irrigation at Dire Dawa, the research station of Haramaya university, Ethiopia. Data were collected on kernel yield and other morphological traits, oil content and oil yield. The data on traits were subjected for principal component (PC) values, clustering and Euclidean distance. In this study, the first six Principal Components Analysis (PCA) found to be significant and accounted for 74.51% of the total variation in which the first principal component (PC1) and the second principal component (PC2) contributed more to the variation. Those 36 genotypes were grouped into six major clusters and the dendrogram showed that cluster I, II, III, IV, V and VI included 6, 9, 8, 5, 7 and 1 numbers of genotypes in that order. Euclidean distance ranged from 2.45 to 8.54 with the mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation of 5.44, 1.17 and 21.56%, respectively. Based on the result of the current study, there were variations of genetic distances among genotypes, Gv17 and Gv28, Gv3 and Gv23, Gv3 and Gv30, Gv15 and Gv17, Gv22 and Gv28, and Gv3 and Gv34 which could be exploited through hybridization for cultivar development in groundnut breeding programs in Ethiopia. Therefore, these genotypes are recommended as excellent candidates for further breeding and variety development.