Genetic divergence of sugar yield and its components in flowering type Saccharum officinarum clones

Fifty-three Saccharum officinarum clones, which flower at Coimbatore and Cannanore, were evaluated to study the genetic divergence. Data on 13 quantitative characters were recorded and was subjected to multivariate D 2 analysis. The clones were grouped into nine clusters. The hybridization among the clones from cluster mand all other clusters, having the maximum intercluster distances, might yield better recombinants for various characters.