ESTIMATION OF Leucaena leucocephala LEAF AREA BASED ON ITS DRY MATTER

P. P. del   Pozo; A.  Alvarez

ESTIMATION OF Leucaena leucocephala LEAF AREA BASED ON ITS DRY MATTER

Autores

P. P. del Pozo

A. Alvarez

Editor

Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Agrícolas

Descripción

With the objective of estimating the leaf area of Leucaena leucocephala cv. Ipil ipil from foliar dry matter, simple linear regressions were conducted between the actual foliar area (FA) measured by an electronic planimeter and the foliar dry matter variable (FDM). A split plot random block with four replications was used. Fertilization levels were the main plots and regrowth ages (from the third to the twelfth week) the subplots. Ten plants were selected at random in each replication per treatment to measure leaf area and its dry matter. During the dry period (January-March) each sample was composed of the foliar matter from each plant while in the rainy season (July-October) up to 30 representative leaves of the strata were collected within each plant. In both periods of the year, leaf area was linearly related (p<0.001) with its dry matter, but with different coefficients of determination. The regressions of fertilization levels did not improve adjustments and the parameters were not significant (p>0.05), which means that the initial grouping of data to estimate the models per season was valid. Results indicate that the equations FA=16256.9 +8132.63(±636.50)FDM and FA=6558.49 + 15455.1(±496.3) FDM can be used for the estimation of leaf area of Leucaena based on the values of dry matter of leaves under similar conditions to those studied here.