Estimation Of Leaf Area In Grain-Sorghum From Single Leaf Measurements

Studies were made to examine the applicability of a common leaf product constant (K-constant × length × width), for estimating the area of single leaf and it was found that the same constant was applicable for the 3 sorghum genotypes (Sorghum bicolor L Moench) studied (K=0.71). Adaptability of the common leaf product constant for individual leaves according to its position in the plant was also tested by regression analysis, and the same constant was found to be applicable in most cases. Because complete measurement of all leaves of a plant in field trials is time-consuming and involves prohibitive labor input, the most representative leaf was identified through correlation studies to use it in working out the leaf area index. The largest leaf was found to be the most representative. This representative leaf differed with genotype, depending upon total leaf number. An appropriate factor to work out leaf area of the whole plant from a single leaf was determined. This leaf area factor was found to vary from 4.106 to 5.873 among the sorghum genotypes