Genetic diversity in Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima under subtropical climate of North India

Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima is generally a self­ incompatible, cross pollinated perennial species which grows from Mediterranean coasts to European Atlantic coasts. Thirty-four accessions of this species obtained from the BGRC collection located at Braunschweig (Germany) were evaluated for nine quantitative traits under the sub­ tropical climate of North India. The characters studied were root weight, root length, crown size, number of rings, shape and color of leaf, leaf length and width, the ratio of leaf length to leaf width, petiole length, flowering (annual! biennial), and tolerance to temperatures of40°C and above. Multivariate analysis revealed variation within and among groups of accessions and identified important traits to consider in a selection program. Four principal compo­ nents (PCs) accounted for 82% of the variability. The first PC accounted for 44 % of the variability and was as­ sociated with root weight, root length, and crown diam­ eter. The second PC was associated with top weight and accounted for 20% of the variability. Cluster analysis by a non-hierarchical method resulted in six clusters, the larg­ est cluster having nine genotypes, the smallest two.