Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at the Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center during the meher season (July to November 2019 and 2020) to evaluate traits that directly influence seed yield and contribute to overall phenotypic variation and classification. Twenty-five Ethiopian coriander accessions were laid out in a simple lattice design with two replications. The combined analysis of variance revealed highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.01) among coriander accessions in eight morphological parameters. Plant height, the number of umbellets umbel-1, the number of seeds umbel-1, and the seed yield plant-1 all had a positive and direct effect on the seed yield ha-1. The first two PCs contributed 62.6% of the total phenotypic variation, and the accessions were grouped into six clusters. The highest inter-cluster distances were observed between VI and III (D2=159.21), IV and III (D2=155.84), and VI and I (D2=113.26) clusters. Crossing between accessions included in those clusters could produce highly heterotic responses and segregants. In general, this study demonstrated significant phenotypic diversity among the tested accessions and could be used in improvement programs to develop desirable coriander varieties