Measurement of leaf area per plant of white jute Corchorus capsularis L and tossa jute C olitorius L using the average specific leaf weight value

The average specific leaf weight (ASLW) of 12 Corchorus capsularis L. and 11 C. olitorius L. cultivars was measured as the average ratio of leaf weight to leaf area, using all the leaves per plant. Although the capsularis cultivars always exhibited lower values of ASLW than the olitorius ones, cultivar differences within species were not significant. The ASLW values of leaves of different maturity statue were different but those within the growth stages showed little variation, so that the ASLW for the whole plant also remained constant irrespective of plant growth stages. Therefore, it is proposed that the ASLW values can be employed to determine leaf area of the Jute plant from its leaf dry weight at all stages of growth. Leaf areas per plant determined using the ASLW, of 3.26 mg cm-2 for all the olitorius and 3.03 mg cm-2 for all the capsularis cultivars from the respective dry weights of the leaves per plant, were found to be very close to those obtained by other methods.