Growth analysis and selection of wheat varieties for drought resistance using cluster analysis
The growth of 12 varieties of wheat was analysed under the effect of water stress.The results were analysed using Cluster analysis in order to select varieties of contrasting response. Some varieties maintained relatively higher percentages of growth under water stress than others . The dendrogram Fig 1 (b)based on 4 variable showed several groups of varieties at a high coefficient of similarity. Only tow groups stayed separate down to a low similarity coefficient of 55. 0. The first of these contains four varieties , the second group contains the rest of the varieties. At higher coefficients, the tow groups are divided into sub-groups that are less distinctive.The low levels of similarity were recorded between varieties in group I and other varieties. The lowest coefficient was between vars . Although the number of varieties used in this experiment was rather low for selecting varieties with contrasting responses, some varieties differed considerably in their growth responses under water stress e.g. 3 5, thus justifying further investigation of their possible biochemical differences.
