Development of a deep-learning phenotyping tool for analyzing image-based strawberry phenotypes

In strawberry farming, phenotypic traits (such as crown diameter, petiole length, plant height, flower, leaf, and fruit size) measurement is essential as it serves as a decision-making tool for plant monitoring and management. To date, strawberry plant phenotyping has relied on traditional approaches. In this study, an image-based Strawberry Phenotyping Tool (SPT) was developed using two deep-learning (DL) architectures, namely "YOLOv4" and "U-net" integrated into a single system. We aimed to create the most suitable DL-based tool with enhanced robustness to facilitate digital strawberry plant phenotyping directly at the natural scene or indirectly using captured and stored images.

Our SPT was developed primarily through two steps (subsequently called versions) using image data with different backgrounds captured with simple smartphone cameras. The two versions (V1 and V2) were developed using the same DL networks but differed by the amount of image data and annotation method used during their development. For V1, 7,116 images were annotated using the single-target non-labeling method, whereas for V2, 7,850 images were annotated using the multitarget labeling method.

The results of the held-out dataset revealed that the developed SPT facilitates strawberry phenotype measurements. By increasing the dataset size combined with multitarget labeling annotation, the detection accuracy of our system changed from 60.24% in V1 to 82.28% in V2. During the validation process, the system was evaluated using 70 images per phenotype and their corresponding actual values. The correlation coefficients and detection frequencies were higher for V2 than for V1, confirming the superiority of V2. Furthermore, an image-based regression model was developed to predict the fresh weight of strawberries based on the fruit size (R² = 0.92).

The results demonstrate the efficiency of our system in recognizing the aforementioned six strawberry phenotypic traits regardless of the complex scenario of the environment of the strawberry plant. This tool could help farmers and researchers make accurate and efficient decisions related to strawberry plant management, possibly causing increased productivity and yield potential.