CLUSTER-ANALYSIS OF AN INTERNATIONAL COLLECTION OF FOXTAIL MILLET (SETARIA-ITALICA (L) P-BEAUV)

A cluster analysis of 2907 accessions of foxtail millet (Setaria itali ca (L.) P. Beauv.) from 16 provinces of China and 22 other countries w as carried out, using nine morphological and agronomic descriptors. Th e populations from different geographical origins were grouped into tw elve clusters. The results revealed the existence of high levels of va riation for all characters observed among regions and suggested a mult iple domestication hypothesis with three centers, i.e., China, Europe and Afghanistan-Lebanon. A new system of classification recognizing fo ur races, i.e., maxima, moharia, indica and nana, of foxtail millet is proposed.