Assessment of Genetic Diversity and Identification of Superior Donors for Higher Yield, Nutritional and Processing Traits in Tomato through Hierarchical Clustering Analysis

The present investigation was carried out in the Department of Horticulture, BAC, BAU, Sabour, Bihar, with 22 diverse genotypes of tomato germplasms collected from diverse locations and sources. The 22 genotypes were assessed for their phonological, morphological, yield, nutritional and processing quality attributes. The hierarchical clustering analysis based on the Euclidean distance and Ward’s method were applied on these genotypes separately based on two segments namely the morphological and yield attributes; and the nutritional and processing quality attributes, aimed to find superior genotypes from both segments. Further, through the same analysis, the genetic diversity among the 22 genotypes for these traits were also established. Additionally, the association among the plant traits are also partly reported with a heatmap visualization. Our findings suggest that the genotypes 2019/TODVAR-4, 2019/TODVAR-5, 2019/TODVAR-2, 2019/TODVAR-7, and 2019/TOLOCVRES-4 exhibit superior processing quality attributes, compared to the check cultivar Kashi Chayan. In particular, genotypes with higher yields coupled with favorable nutritional and processing qualities significantly enhance the success of breeding programs. Notably, genotype 2019/TODVAR-4 has been identified as particularly suitable for developing cultivars with excellent processing qualities.