AI-Based Early Disease Detection in Peach Crops: A Computer Vision Approach for Monilinia spp. and Taphrina deformans

This study introduces a robust early disease detection system for peach crops, leveraging computer vision and artificial intelligence to address significant economic losses caused by Brown Rot (Monilinia spp.) and Leaf Curl (Taphrina deformans). The methodology comprises a structured approach, starting with the collection of a high-quality dataset of 640 images captured under real-world field conditions. These images, representing healthy and diseased fruits and leaves, underwent a rigorous preprocessing pipeline that included background removal, color space conversion, resizing, and contour detection to optimize them for model training. A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) was developed and validated using k-fold cross-validation, achieving an outstanding accuracy of 90.28\% for fruit disease detection and 96.43\% for leaf disease detection during the validation phase. The model's final performance, evaluated with a confusion matrix, demonstrated a remarkable 100\% precision for Brown Rot in fruits and 96.4\% precision for Leaf Curl in leaves. These results confirm the system's reliability and its potential for practical application in precision agriculture. The project culminates in a functional web application, showcasing the viability of deploying deep learning solutions as accessible tools for farmers to facilitate timely and proactive crop management.