ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS OF SEEDLING AND SEMI-MATURE SESBANIA SESBAN, A MULTIPURPOSE TREE SPECIES, ESTIMATED USING ALLOMETRIC REGRESSIONS

Above-ground biomass production in seedling and semi-mature individual plants of Sesbania sesban varieties were compared to non-destructive measurements of stem allometrics. The results indicate that measuremen ts of stem characteristics (diameter and total height) are suitable fo r estimating biomass of S. sesban varieties and therefore useful in th e selection of particular varieties for inclusion in short-rotation ag roforestry systems in arid- and semi-arid regions. Less labour-intensi ve methods for accurately assessing the productivity of agroforestry s pecies, such as the use of allometric regressions, could significantly increase the number of individual plants that could be screened in an y particular trial. A multiple polynomial regression accurately estima ted above-ground biomass in all plants ranging in age from six weeks t o eighteen months (r(2) = 0.99; p < 0.001).