Cluster Analysis Based Selection in Seedling Population of Cassava Clones

The research was conducted in the rainy season in early 2018, in the Jambegede Research Station, Kepanjen sub-district, Malang, East Java, Indonesia. Clones that selected in this study were 1,016 clones from 42 families. Cassava selection in the early stages involved a large number of clones, therefore cluster analysis (the K-means cluster analysis method) was carried out to classify clones based on tuber yield and harvest index and to facilitate the selection process. The aim of this study was to select high yielding cassava clones as selection material for the next stage of selection in the highlands. The F¹ seedlings population selected, had a wide range of tuber yield. The results of this study indicated that the average of tuber yield of all families were lower than the check varieties, because the F¹ plants’ ability to form tubers was not optimal, and there were even plants that only produce roots. However, there were F¹ plants which had higher tuber yields than the average yield of the check varieties. The harvest index in F¹ population ranged from 0.25 to 0.96 with an average of 0.75. The analysis cluster based on fresh tuber yield and harvest index of the F¹ families formed five clusters. The characteristics of these cluster were fresh tuber yield ranged from 4.84 kg to 7.4 kg with average of 6.05 kg and harvest index ranges from 0.71 to 0.82 with average of 0.79. The cluster that consisting superior clones were cluster 4.