Detection of Bangladeshi-Produced Plant Disease Using a Transfer Learning Based on Deep Neural Model

Plant diseases pose a significant threat to agricultural productivity and food security in Bangladesh. In this research, we address the challenge of timely and accurate plant disease detection through the application of transfer learning with deep neural models. We curated a diverse dataset comprising 18 categories of plant leaf images, including Bell pepper Bacterial spot, Bell pepper Healthy, Peach Healthy, Potato Early Blight, Rice Leaf Blast, Rice Healthy, Rice Brown Spot, Potato Healthy, Peach Bacterial spot, Corn Blight, Potato Late blight, Corn Healthy, Tomato Bacterial spot, Strawberry Leaf Scorch, Tomato Early blight, Tomato Early blight, Strawberry Healthy, and Tomato Healthy. The dataset represents the most prevalent plant diseases observed in the Bangladeshi context. We employed three state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms, EfficientNetV2M, VGG-19, and NASNetLarge, to develop robust plant disease detection models. Through transfer learning, these pre-trained models were fine-tuned on our specialized dataset to adapt them for the task at hand. The performance evaluation revealed impressive results, with EfficientNetV2M achieving an accuracy rate of 99%, VGG-19 achieving 93%, and NASNetLarge attaining 83% accuracy. The high accuracy of EfficientNetV2M showcases its exceptional capability in accurately classifying plant diseases prevalent in Bangladesh. The success of these deep neural models in detecting various plant diseases signifies their potential in revolutionizing plant disease management and enhancing agricultural practices. Our research contributes valuable insights into the effective use of transfer learning for plant disease detection and emphasizes the significance of dataset curation for improved model performance. The developed models hold promise in providing timely and precise disease diagnosis to farmers and agricultural professionals, thereby facilitating prompt interventions and minimizing crop losses. Future research can explore the integration of these deep neural models into practical agricultural tools, enabling real-time disease detection and offering substantial benefits to the agricultural industry in Bangladesh.