Bavappa, K.V.A.Jacob Mathew2014-07-072014-07-071982-12Journal of Plantation Crops 10(2) : 92-101 December, 1982http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/3742The genetic distances between 13 cultivars of A. catechu and four ecotypes of A. triandra estimated from 24 characters recorded in the productive phase for two years and the pooled data for both these years were more or less consistent. The cultivars could be grouped into six clusters in both the years and into five for the pooled data. A comparison of the groupings obtained during the two different years showed that the widely divergent clusters remained distinct in both the years whereas in the case of less divergent groups there were slight deviations in the clustering pattern. It is concluded that detection of genetic divergence is possible in the early years of productive phase. This is of considerable advantage in formulating breeding programmes. The rankings obtained by the different characters for their contribution towards genetic divergence revealed that the importance of nut and kernel characters in differentiation within A. catechu group and between A. catechu and A. triandra types. The results obtained from canonical analysis were also in broad agreement with the clustering pattern found from D2 analysis. Clustering pattern of cultivars and ecotypes obtained in the present study revealed that geographic diversity need not always be related to genetic diversity in arecanut.engeneticsarecanutArticle