The influence of reducing 25, 50 and 75 percent of the leaf arca on the growth of the coffee plant was studied. For this purpose the area of each one of all the individual leaves of one and half year old coffee plants was reduced by cutting off part of the leaf blade in those proportions. The Net Assimilation Rate (NAR) and the Relative Growth Rate (RGR) were determined. The reduction of the leaf area decreased the dry weight and reduced the leaf growth rate in 32.6, 42.7 and 54.0% and 6.4, 44.6 and 54,1% respectively with the cutting off of 25, 50 and 75% of leaf area. With the reduction of leaf area, the RGR decreased, while the NAR increased.