allometric relationships between leaf area and vegetative characteristics in faba bean (vicia faba l.)

the objective of this study was to obtain relationships between plant leaf area (cm2plant-1) with leaf dry weight (g plant-1), vegetative dry weight (g plant-1) and plant height (cm) in faba bean (vicia faba l.). the experiment was conducted at the research farm of gorgan university of agricultural sciences in 2011-2012 growing season. the experimental design was a randomized complete block design that arranged as split plot-factorial with four replications. the factors were inter-row spacing (30, 45 and 60 cm), sowing date (15 nov. and 24 dec 2011) and cultivar (barakat and french). plant samplings were carried out during growing season with 15 days intervals up to end of effective leaf formation. at each sampling, leaf area, leaf dry weight, vegetative dry weight and plant height were measured. a power equation (y=axb) was used to describe the relationships between leaf area and the above mentioned characteristics. this equation was used for all combinations of sowing dates and inter-row apacings. significant relationships were found between leaf area and leaf dry weight (r2=0.96), vegetative dry weight (r2=0.95) and plant height (r2=0.94). it was concluded that the equations can be used for estimation of leaf area or in the simulation models of faba bean.