Preliminary study on the application of a commercial LAI ceptometer for estimation of leaf production on low vigour mulberry trees

In the last decades, the interest on instrumentation for fast plant canopy characterization has increased, in particular for the possibility of estimation of yield of cultivated plants. The present work investigates the suitability of a commercial LAI ceptometer (AccuPAR LP-80) for estimation of leaf yield of white mulberry (Morus alba L.) trees: focus of the present study is the evaluation of accuracy of LAI data collected with the ceptometer in comparison with the real total area of leaves and their weight for each plant. The evaluation has been carried on plants both cultivated in a controlled environment and in open field. Results from analyses show a relatively good grade of accuracy, affected by the geometry of the investigated crop.