LEAF AREA DETERMINATION FOR MAIZE (Zea mays L), OKRA (Abelmoschus esculentus L) AND COWPEA (Vigna unguiculata L) CROPS USING LINEAR MEASUREMENTS

Abstract

The study was carried out within the green house of the faculty of Agriculture, Kogi State University (Latitude 7⁰.6¹N and Longitude 7⁰.43¹E) Anyigba in the Southern Guinea Savannah agro ecological zone of Nigeria, during 2015 cropping season. The experiment was laid using Randomized complete block design with a replicate. The treatment consisted of Maize, okra and cowpea. The result reveals K-coefficients for determination of leaf area to be 0.75, 0.62 and 0.75 for Maize, Okra and Cowpea respectively. The use of multiple regression equation did not improve the prediction over linear measurement. A simple and multiple regression analysis was also carried out in other to increase precision in determined leaf area in the three crops or treatments which are; maize (Y=-1106.704 + 0.509x_1, Y= -1106.704 + 0.509x₁ + 135.239x₂), Okra (Y=-3.616 + 0.604x_1, Y=-3.616 + 0.604x + 0.882x₂) and Cowpea (Y=-8.155 + 0.925x₁ ,Y=-8.155 + 0.925x₁ – 0.009x₂).e the data on leaf area and leaf number value of all the three crops were fitted into linear regression analysis separately as well as combined data, it did not show any significant difference or improvement over the use of linear measurement.

Key words: k-coefficient, linear measurements, simple and multiple regression of maize, okra and cowpea.