*Previously Central Mango Research Station, Lucknow.
Central Institute of Horticulture for Northern Plains, Lucknow
Total leaf area on a tree is closely related to its trunk girth. The leaf area on secondary or tertiary branches is also closely related to its girth. Pooling of the leaf area estimates of individual branches based on girth gives raise to total leaf area on a tree. Proportion of leaves and shoots in a particular branch to the total leaf area in the logarithmic scale is very closely related to the proportions of
(a) Particular branch girth/total of branch girths,
(b) Particular branch girth/Trunk girth,
(c) Particular branch cross sectional area/total of cross sectional areas of branches, and
(d) Particular branch cross sectional area/cross sectional area of the trunk.
These four methods also estimate the total leaf area on a tree. Number of leaves on a branch is closely related to number of shoots, therefore the leaf number can be estimated with shoot number. The estimate of leaf number multiplied by the mean leaf area, which is already known, gives the total leaf area on a tree.
