Abstract

In the dry season, water deficit occurs in plants and affects their growth. Cassava in the rainy season and the dry season has different responses. The aim of this study was to evaluate of change in leaf area in dry and rainy season of cassava population from a cross of C33 x HNT. The cassava leaf area was recorded in February 2022 in the dry season of cassava population grown by seed and in August 2022 in the rainy season of cassava population grown by cutting from the previous seedling trial. The leaf area was calculated in Photoshop program. The correlation of the cassava leaf area in the two periods was analyzed using the Statistical Tool for Agricultural Research (STAR). The results showed that the leaf area of plants in the dry season and those the rainy season were not correlated. In other words, cassava plants in the dry season does not always have less leaf area than those in the rainy season in all genotypes. Therefore, the value of leaf area in dry season to those in rainy season was calculated for each genotype. When the value is greater than 1, it suggests that the area of cassava leaves during the dry season is greater than that during the rainy season. This implies that the genotypes with a drought tolerance index of more than 1 have the ability to cope with drought conditions better than the genotypes with a drought tolerance index of less than 1. These selected genotypes will be utilized for further breeding of drought-tolerant cassava.