1. Université Péléforo GON COULIBALY de Korhogo | Département de Biologie Végétale | BP 1328 Korhogo | Côte d’Ivoire | 2. Centre d’étude Régional pour l’Amélioration de l’Adaptation à la sécheresse (CERAAS, Thiès, Sénégal) | BP 3320 Thiès-Escale, | Sénégal | 3Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny de Cocody | Laboratoire de Physiologie Végétale de l’UFR Biosciences, 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22, Côte d’Ivoire | 4. Université de Fada N’Gourma | Institut Supérieur du Développement Durable | BP 54 Fada N’Gourma | Burkina Faso| 5. CIRAD (UMR AGAP)/FOFIPA | Adresse : Avenue Agropolis 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5 | Montpellier | France | 6. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRA) | Centre Régional de la Recherche Agronomique de Zinder | BP 662 | 7. Institut National Polytechnique HYPERLINK "http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9lix_Houphou%C3%ABt-Boigny"Félix HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY | Département de Formation et de Recherches Agriculture et Ressources Animales | BP 1093 Yamoussoukro | Côte d’Ivoire | 8. Université Jean Lourougnon Guédé | UFR Agroforesterie | BP 150 Daloa | Côte d’Ivoire |
This article is made freely available as part of this journal's Open Access: ID| Laopé–Ref3-ajira101020 |
ABSTRACT Background: The leaf area index (LAI) is crucial variable to describe the state of plant development. The measurement of the LAI can be performed directly through destructive methods, and indirectly based on the radiation interception methods (with SunScan device) or gap fraction methods (with LAI-2000 device). Previous studies showed that indirect measurements underestimated LAI values. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the LAI values obtained by the indirect method using the LAI-2000 and those obtained by the direct method. Methods: The experiment was conducted during three years comparing direct and indirect LAI measurements of millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.). The experiment layout was a randomized complete block design with variety (SOUNA 3 and SANIO) and sowing density as factors. Results: A strong linear relationship was found between LAI values estimated by the LAI-2000 and values of LAI based on direct method. So, correlations have been established between direct and indirect LAI values. This correlation is independent of the varieties and planting density of millet. Conclusions: There is a strong correlation between LAI-2000 values and those of the LAI based on direct method. So, the LAI values can be estimated using LAI-2000 which is less laborious and time consuming. Keywords: Millet, optical leave-area-meter, leaf area index, plant canopy analyzer, radiant interception.
