Machine vision and artificial intelligence for plant growth stress detection and monitoring: A review

Abstract

The agricultural sector faces increasing challenges in ensuring food security and optimizing crop yield, necessitating innovative solutions for early detection and mitigation of plant growth stress. The integration of advanced imaging technologies with artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool for non-invasive, real-time monitoring of plant health. The objective of this paper was to review the application of machine vision and AI in identifying and classifying plant growth stress, with a focus on stressors, datasets, and the use of intelligent algorithms. The significance of plant growth stress induced by environmental variables, including temperature, light, nutrient deficiencies, and water supply were addressed and the conventional stress detection methodologies, underscores their inherent limitations, and establishes the groundwork for the exploration of state-of-the-art technologies in stress assessment. Various sensor technologies were explored, encompassing traditional RGB cameras, multispectral and hyperspectral sensors, and thermal imaging, each capable of capturing distinct stress signatures. Machine vision, leveraging high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy, offers detailed insights into plant physiological responses. Coupled with AI approaches such as deep learning, neural networks, and pattern recognition, machine vision enables the automated analysis of vast datasets, enhancing the accuracy and speed of stress detection. The recent advancements in image processing techniques tailored for plant stress identification were focused and discussed the role of feature extraction, classification, and predictive modelling in achieving robust results. The potentials of AI in plant stress physiology and its role in overcoming the limitations of traditional methods, and the use of unsupervised identification of visual symptoms to quantify stress severity, allowing for the identification of different types of plant stress were studied. Moreover, the potentials of machine vision technology and AI for real-time monitoring and decision support systems in precision agriculture were discussed. The findings of this review would contribute to the growing field of agricultural technology, offering insights into the development of automated tools that could aid farmers and researchers in mitigating the impact of abiotic stressors on crop/plant health and productivity.