DIVERSITY ANALYSIS AND RELATIONSHIPS AMONG GINGER LANDRACES

Abstract

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a valuable spice and aromatic crop having medicinal significance. To have insight into variability pattern and relationships among ginger landraces, the current study was undertaken at University of Tsukuba, Japan using 32 morphological traits. The germplasm revealed high variance for plant height, rhizome weight, rhizome thickness, sheath length, tillers plant-1 and leaf length. Principal component analysis explained 80% and 90% of the total variation by the first four PCs during the year 2005 and 2006, respectively. The representative accessions acquired from the genebank remained dispersed in the three clusters during both the years displaying variability among accessions. The ginger accessions collected from local markets were found interspersed among all the clusters. Positive and significant correlation among different quantitative traits was observed. Plant height, leaves tillers-1, and tiller thickness appeared to be of prime importance as they directly influence rhizome yield, and provide a good indication for future’s emphasis in crop improvement in ginger. No relationship between distribution pattern and acquisition source was observed in this study. The different approaches used to analyze different aspects of ginger provided a deep insight and indicated existence of considerable variability and diverse base which has been prioritized for crop improvement.