Leaf area estimation in a sugar beet cultivar by linear models

An indirect method of leaf area measurement for Rizor sugar beet cultivar was tested. Leaves were sampled during two growing seasons in a Randomised Complete Block Design experiment. For 2002 samplings, leaf area [cm(2)] was linearly correlated with maximum leaf width [cm] using all leaf samples (r(2) = 0.83, p < 0.001) or using the means of the 8 sampling occasions (r(2) = 0.97, p < 0.001). Correlations between leaf area and leaf midvein length [cm] were weaker (r(2) = 0.75, p < 0.001 and r(2) = 0.93,p < 0.001, respectively). For 2003 samplings, the area estimated by the equations was highly correlated to the measured leaf area.