Abstract

The aim of this study was to select the most suitable model for leaf area estimation from papaya seedlings cv. ‘Golden THB’ using linear dimensions of leaves with unilobular and trilobular morphology. It was used leaves of 60 seedlings with 30 days after sowing produced in nursery of the Fazenda Santa Teresinha which belongs to company Caliman Agrícola S.A., in the municipality of Linhares, state of Espírito Santo, in March 2016. The measurement of the length (L) was performed along the midrib, the maximum width (W) of the leaf blade, the product of the length by the width (LW) and the observed leaf area (OLA). From these results, first degree and power linear regression models was adjusted. From the proposed regression models, the validation was performed with a leaves sample of 60 seedlings produced in June 2016, obtaining, thus, the estimated leaf area (ELA). The following criteria were used to choose the best model: the highest coefficient of determination (R²), the values do not significant of the comparison of means of OLA and ELA and values of MAE and RMSE closer to zero. The leaf area estimation from papaya seedlings cv. ‘Golden THB’ can be represented through equation ELA = -0.402619 + 0.612525(LW) for trilobular leaves and through equation ELA = 0.623355 + 0.610552(LW) for unilobular leaves.

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