Artificial intelligence-Driven detection and decision support system for precision management of maize downy mildew.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) enables rapid and precise plant disease detection, offering transformative potential for crop protection. Maize downy mildew (MDM), a destructive disease, causes substantial yield losses, making early detection critical. In this study, we evaluated the performance of thirteen machine-learning (ML) and deep-learning (DL) algorithms for classifying healthy and infected maize leaves using a curated field dataset. Model performance was assessed using multiple metrics, including accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and AUC-ROC. Among the tested models, VGG16 achieved the highest performance, with 97% accuracy, 0.98 precision, 0.95 recall, 0.97 F1-score, and an AUC-ROC of 0.99. Training and validation curves indicated minimal overfitting, demonstrating robust generalization. Feature visualization using t-SNE revealed clear separability between healthy and diseased samples, while Grad-CAM analysis confirmed that VGG16 focused on biologically relevant symptomatic regions, such as chlorotic streaks and leaf discoloration. Confusion matrix analysis further validated near-perfect classification, with very few misclassifications. Furthermore, we developed a web-based application (https://maize-mdm.streamlit.app/) that not only classifies MDM but also provides farm-level advisory measures. Two-year field trials of DSS-guided fungicide applications effectively suppressed MDM, reducing disease severity (PDI 3.20-5.20; PROC 93-96%), increasing grain yield (75.6-80.2 q/ha; PIOC 195-289%), and improving economic returns (B:C ratio 3.36-3.57) compared to untreated controls. Overall, this study demonstrates that AI-driven models, integrated with web-based decision support, provide accurate, interpretable, and actionable solutions for precision management of maize diseases, contributing to improved yield, profitability, and sustainable agricultural practices.

Plant phenotyping relevance

トウモロコシ葉の画像から病害症状を分類するAI手法を開発・比較し、性能検証と実装まで行っており、植物病害状態の表現型取得が中心である。

Code and data availability

植物フェノタイピング解析を再現する公開資産であることを、入力本文と直接リンクから確認できなかったため保留しました。

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.