DualSlim-YOLO: A Lightweight Detection Model Based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Imagery for Cauliflower Seedling Identification and Growth Assessment

Abstract

Cauliflower emergence rate and seedling growth are key indicators of field conditions and varietal potential. Traditional manual surveys are unsuitable for continuous monitoring across multiple varieties. This study integrates UAV RGB imagery with the DualSlim-YOLO model to estimate cauliflower emergence rates and monitor seedling growth. Built on YOLOv11, the model incorporates a lightweight feature extraction structure and an optimized detection-scale configuration. It reduces computational complexity while maintaining detection accuracy, thereby improving the efficiency of cauliflower seedling detection. DualSlim-YOLO achieved P, R, F1-score, mAP@0.5, and mAP@0.5:0.95 of 95.35%, 96.75%, 96.05%, 98.55%, and 86.65%, respectively. The number of parameters was reduced by 38.61%, while the inference speed increased by 22.16%, demonstrating good lightweight performance. Based on this model, UAV images of 171 cauliflower varieties acquired at 7, 21, and 28 d after transplanting were used for seedling detection and emergence rate estimation. In addition, 18 time-series seedling phenotypic traits were extracted, enabling a comprehensive quantitative evaluation of emergence dynamics and early-growth performance across multiple cauliflower varieties. This method effectively screens cauliflower varieties for high emergence rates, rapid emergence, and excellent seedling growth performance. It provides technical support for high-throughput, nondestructive seedling phenotyping and early germplasm screening under field conditions.

Plant phenotyping relevance

UAV画像と軽量YOLOモデルを用いて、カリフラワー苗の検出、出芽率推定、18種類の時系列表現型形質抽出を行う手法が中心であり、モデル性能も検証している。

Code and data availability

The supplied article blocks describe UAV RGB imagery of 171 cauliflower varieties, a DualSlim-YOLO detection model, and phenotypic analyses, but contain no data availability statement, no public dataset or image deposit, and no code/model availability language or URLs. No paper-specific public asset is identified.

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