Chapter - Two

Literature Review

2.1 Prologue

The development of human civilization increases the demand of conversion of

agricultural land to habitat as well as aims to maximum its yield. Limited availability
of agricultural land and drastic increment in a population of living bodies, attain
human focus towards improvement in the yield capacity. The improvement in yield
capacity of the agricultural field can be achived with the help of modern techniques
and technologies. Apart from the modern agriculture techniques, the uses of basic
scientific technologies are now being exercised in broad manner.
The occurance of plant disease is common, due to diverse and favorable
environmental conditions for the growth of disease. The growth of disease in a plant
modifies or interrupts the essential functions of the plant such as photosynthesis, grain
formation, transpiration, pollination, fertilization, germination, etc. These changes
during the crop growth stages drastically affect the crop yield. The occurrence of
diseases on plants has been observed during the entire life span of the plant. Some
disease occurs at the initial stage, some at the middle of its age, while others affects
the plant at maturity stage. In this chapter, a chronological review on crop yield along
with plant diseases has been discussed. The developments in identifications of disease
have been presented. Disease grading scale suggested by researchers and scientists
has been elaborated in the current chapter for the correct assessment of disease
severity. The changes in disease severity with and without fungicidal applications are
shown in Figures 2.1 and 2.2. The suitability of such curves is applicable for all types
of diseases. They also provide a rate of change in disease severity for favorable
conditions. Thereafter, significance of current study along with research gaps from
previous study and scope of research has been presented.
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Х Final stage

Disease (%)
Favorable stage

Initial stage

Growth days

Figure 2.1 Graph of disease severity without fungicidal applications (representation)

Х
Disease (%)

Final stage
Fungicidal
Х
stage

Initial stage

Growth days

Figure 2.2 Graph of disease severity with fungicidal applications (representation)

2.2 History of Plant Diseases

The continuous increasing demand for food and use of yield in other perspective for
human being increases the usefulness of plant. This increasing demand always sets a
hurdle for food availability in pathogens. So, in this contradictory struggle for
survival, the pathogens are constantly attacking crops, raised by humans. Ultimately,

22
Chapter - Two Literature Review

some of the crops may get infected with pathogens and as a result, the losses of yield
occurs [2].
The quest to know the cause of plant diseases and measures to control it had
begun with the beginning of civilization several decades before the birth of Christ.
Though there was lack of information about the pathogens, yet many of the holy
books like the Bible contains the reference of the various diseases (such as blights,
blasts, mildews, etc.) of that time. In 350 BC, the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle
wrote about the plant diseases. Later, In 372-287 BC, a successor of Aristotal and
plant biologist Theophrastus hypothesized the concept of cereal and other plant
diseases. During the Middle Ages (5th to 15th century) in Europe, there is mention of
wheat mildew disease in one of the plays of Shakespeare. Inventions of microscope
pave the way for pathologists to see the micro-organisms in 1683 [49].
The disease has an adverse effect on crop yield and severely harms the human
life. Some of the colonial time examples are [50];
 During medieval time, massive European epidemics caused by ergot of rye
occurred frequently. Ergot of rye grain caused hallucinations and sometimes
deadly illness.
 In 1800’s about 1.5 million peoples i.e. one-fourth or 25% of total population
was killed in Irish due to potato famine (late blight fungal disease of potato).
 The introduction of Downy mildew grape disease in the mid of 19th century
destroyed the vineyards in France, Germany and Italy.
 Asian blight disease destroyed the American chestnut tree in early 20th
century. The chestnut was a major source of lumber at that time in America.

The growth of disease-causing organisms (pathogens) increases rapidly. Besides the

growth, nature of pathogen also mutates rapidly. This phenomenon may develop
genetic resistance in pathogens against chemical controls. Therefore, the ability to
infect new hybrids may increase many fold [51]. There are about 50,000 diseases in
crop plants in existence and the newborn diseases are showing their presence every
year. Thus, the effective control of disease-causing organism must be needed for the
survival of living bodies as well as food for the humanity. Some major diseases like
Rust, Leaf spot, Powdery mildew, Wilt etc. affects the crop yield of Wheat,
Groundnut, Mungbean, Bajra, Rice, Soybean, Cotton, etc. The systematic

23
Chapter - Two Literature Review

representation of disease along with the crop name and year of origin is presented in
Table 2.1.

Table 2.1 Name of foliar diseases along with subjected crop and organizing year
Major foliar diseases Crop name Origin (Year)
Wheat rust Wheat 1988
Bacterial blight Rice 1901
Tikka disease Groundnut 1987
Cotton leaf curl Cotton 1990
Downy mildew Bajra 1907
Rust Soybean 1976
Downy mildew Maize 1882

Coconut, Mustard, Soybean, Sesame, Groundnut, Castor, Sunflower, Linseed, etc. are
the major oilseeds in India. Among the oilseed crops, Groundnut occupies the first
position in order of consumption, in developing countries [52]. The Groundnut is
subjected to many foliar diseases like Powdery mildew, Rust, Tikka disease, Stem rot,
Collar rot, etc. Tikka disease is one of the severe disease, among all diseases, that
occur frequently in recent years in most of the Groundnut growing areas.

2.3 Groundnut: Global Scenario

Groundnut (Punicagranatum), designated as the “Wonder Legume.” The crop was

originated and initially cultivated in the South America. The inherent advantages of
Groundnut make it popular day by day. Globally, in the production of Groundnut,
China secure 1st position by contributing 37% to the world’s production; while, India
standing 2nd position with a contribution of 15% [53]. Figure 2.3 shows the
representation of the Groundnut production globally in the form of pie chart.

24
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Figure 2.3 Global production of Groundnut

On 15th February 2016, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) has

released the second advance estimates for the production of Groundnut crop form
2010 to 2016. The possible reason stated in the report for the declination in
Groundnut yield was a poor monsoon. Table 2.2 shows the production of Groundnut
in Indian scenario from 2010 to 2016. The declination in production of Groundnut in
two successive years from 2015 to 2016 is estimated about to 3% (0.22 million
tonnes) from 7.18 million tonnes in 2016 to 7.40 million tonnes in 2015 [54, 55].

Table 2.2 Groundnut production from 2010 to 2016

Year Production (million tonnes)
2010-2011 8.2
2011-2012 7.0
2012-2013 4.9
2013-2014 9.8
2014-2015 7.40
2015-2016 7.18

2.3.1 Groundnut Disease

The production of Groundnut yield declines every year due to the adverse effect of
many foliar diseases. The disease damages the plants by reducing the photosynthetic
process and forming the lesions [56]. Thus, the continuous observation and careful
diagnosis of the disease of Groundnut crop is essential to protect it from heavy losses.

25
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Table 2.3 shows major diseases on Groundnut crop with their symptoms and effects
[57].

Table 2.3 Groundnut diseases along with symptoms and influence

Disease Symptom Effect
Collar rot Circular brown lesion at collar region Seedling dies
of plant
Stem rot Initially deep brown lesion appears Entire plant may be killed
around the main stem covered with
radiating mycelium
Dry root rot Brow lesion appears on the stem Rotting of the pegs and pods
Peanut bud Mild chlorosis spots appears on Plant becomes stunned and
necrosis young leaves which later turns into bushy
necrotic and chlorotic rings
Rust Initially, orange red-chestnut brown Leaflet becomes curl and
uredo pustule are seen on lower drop off resulting defoliation
surface, and later these lesions appear
on upper surface
Early leaf spot Brown spots appears on upper Leaves shades off
surface of the leaf surrounded by a
yellow halo
Late leaf spot Brown spots appear on the upper and Leaves shades off
lower surface of the leaf
Web blotch Symptoms appear on lower leaves as Premature defoliation
a scattered tan-coloured streaks
forming web pattern
Stunt Leaves become pale yellow and Growth of the plant severely
curled. affected and very few pods
were produced if plant is
infected in early stage of
growing season.
Powdery Large whitish spots appear on the Falling of leaves
mildew upper surface of the leaves

Pictorial representations of these diseases are shown in Figures 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8,
2.9, 2.10, 2.11, 2.12, and 2.13.

26
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Figure 2.4 Collar rot Figure 2.5 Stem rot

Figure 2.6 Dry root Figure 2.7 Peanut bud necrosis

Figure 2.8 Rust Figure 2.9 Early leaf spot

27
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Figure 2.10 Late leaf spot Figure 2.11 Web blotch

Figure 2.12 Stunt Figure 2.13 Powdery mildew

Among all of the above stated disease, two major diseases are; early leaf spot
pot and late
leaf spot disease.. Early leaf spot and late leaf spot disease
diseases are combinable also and
known as Mycospharella leaf spo
ots, Cercospora leaf spot, Tikka, Virvela, Brown spot
and Peanut cercosporiosis [58].. Tikka disease is the most severe disease of Groundnut
worldwide. Symptoms of this disease initially found on the plant leaves and gradually
pervades to stem,, further, the movement is observed towards roots of the plant, and as
an end result, it may drastically influence the Groundnut
G pod. The influence of this
disease may vary from one place to another and may shows alteration with successive
crop season [59].
The environmental parameters such as temperature and relative humidity have
great impact on the development
evelopment of the Tikka disease.
disease Earlier, no correlation has been
28
Chapter - Two Literature Review

observed and established in between both of them. The same relation between
temperature and relative humidity was also suggested by Wolf, in 1914 [60]. The
advancement in assessment of Tikka disease set a benchmark with the establishment
of a relation between temperature and relative humidity. Initially, Jenkins (1938)
reported the dependency of these two parameters (temperature and relative humidity)
on each other and has great influence on the Tikka disease [61].

2.4 Disease Identification Methods

Identification of disease is considered as the primary task for the assessment of the
disease. The correct assessment for disease identification is always an essential step
for selection of disease-infected plant. Identification of disease was done based on
two categories, i.e. visualization through naked eye and visualization through image
processing.

2.4.1 Visualization through Naked Eye

Visualization through naked eye is a technique generally used by agriculturist in the

field for the assessment of the disease. In this technique, observations for the disease
infected plants on leaves are recorded at regular time intervals. The visual
identification of the disease is further confirmed by isolation of pathogen and
examining it under microscope. The naked eye observation technique is still common,
and adaptation of such technique has been considered universally. The detailed
explanation of this technique along with disease assessment is covered in the next
chapter.

2.4.2 Visualization through Image Processing

Use of Image processing is gaining attraction due to inherent advantages over

conventional techniques. The enhancement in image processing application is
observed rapidly in most of the branches of sciences and engineering. The proven
examples in various fields are neuroscience, computer vision communication,
automatic access control system, construction engineering etc. [62]. An application of
image processing in the field of agriculture is still a new aspect. For an example, the
initial disadvantage arises in the field as an object or an image can appear differently

29
Chapter - Two Literature Review

when it is captured at different angles or under different lighting conditions. The

human visual system analysis performs these tasks mostly unconsciously, but a
computer-based system analysis requires skilful programming and lot of processing
power to approach human performance [63]. The researchers are continuously
focusing towards image processing in agriculture. Therefore, the use of image
processing in detection and classification of foliar disease is increasing continuously.

2.4.2.1 Use of Image Processing in Detection of Foliar Diseases

The influence of disease on plant leaves (foliar disease) always has a severe effect.
The disease affects the photosynthesis, translocation, and respiration in plants. Such
hurdles in the life cycle of plant influence the plant health significantly. Thus, this
may overall affect the pod yield of the plant as there is no food available for the
development of pod [64]. The foliar diseases were reported as a major cause of the
declination in production. To overcome the issues related to foliar disease, use of
emerging computational techniques became widely popular.
Earlier available technique (naked eye observation) is inefficient and
ineffective for large area apart from its simplicity and rapidness [65, 18, 66,]. Thus,
analysis using image processing is developed for the same. This may taken as a
technology enhancement as well as rapid recognition in evaluation of plant disease
[67, 68, 69]. The technique increases the accuracy over earlier adopted method in
terms of observation and findings [70, 71]. In year 1983, Lindow and Webb [18]
concluded that the accuracy of findings through image analysis were significantly
better than the visual estimation by naked eyes. Therefore, this may be easily stated
that the use of image processing has proven to be efficient technique to help farmers
to monitor the development of crops and identify the disease.
Tuker and Chakraborty (1977) proposed a method to identify and quantify the
disease in sunflower and oat leaves. Segmentation was considered as the first step of
the proposed algorithm. The variation in threshold was observed with the change in
type of disease. The authors reported a good correlation between disease infected area
and area obtained from the proposed algorithm. The error occurred in some cases due
to improper illumination while capturing images [72]. The studies conducted by
Lefebvre et al. (1993) suggested a new approach for the detection of viral diseases in
potatoes based on computer vision (image to data) by using shape, colour and texture

30
Chapter - Two Literature Review

features [73]. Sena et al. (2003) suggested an implementation over illusion issues
faced by Tuker and Chakraborty (1970). They suggested a new methodology for the
identification of damaged and non-damaged maize plants by the fall armyworm using
digital colour images in simplified lighting conditions. The importance of image
selection was suggested by Sena et al. (2003) [74].
The value of threshold was determined by Skaloudova et al. (2006). The
algorithm proposed by the authors was designed based on two stage threshold values.
The first stage discriminate the leaf from its background and in second stage healthy
part of the leaf was distinguished from diseased part. The disease caused by spider
mites was investigated in this study. The authors compared the proposed two stage
threshold method with two other existing methods i.e. leaf damage index and
chlorophyll fluorescence. The comparative analysis suggested that double threshold
method provides better result when compared to other methods [75].
In the year 2008 Youwen et al. proposed a method to recognize and classify
the cucumber leaf disease based on image processing and Support Vector Machine
(SVM). The vector median filter was applied in the first step to remove the noise.
Segments of the diseased leaf images were obtained in the second step based on
statistic pattern recognition and mathematical morphology. At the end, texture, shape
and colour features were extracted to classify the diseases based on SVM classifier.
Authors concluded that the recognition and classification performed by this method is
better than neural networks [76].
A software prototype system for detection of disease was proposed by
Phadikar and Sil (2008). The authors conducted an experimental study on rice leaf.
An advance zooming algorithm was applied for extracting the features of the infected
areas of the leaf. Self-Organizing Map (SOM), neural network were used to train the
images for the classification. Authors concluded that classification of original image
yields a better result as compared to the image transformed in frequency domain [77].
Camargo and Smith (2009) developed a system, known as the machine vision
system for the identification of the visual symptoms of plant diseases, from colored
images using SVM [42]. In the same year Camargo and Smith (2009) proposed
another method to identify the regions of leaves containing lesions. The experiment
was performed on different plant leaves like Alfalfa, Banana, Soybean, Cotton, and
Maize. Identification of lesions were based on two operations i.e. colour
transformation and threshold. In colour transformation image was transformed into
31
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Hue Saturation Value (HSV) and Illumination (I1I2I3) spaces, from which only H and
two modified versions of I3 were used for next step processing. Thereafter, to analyze
the healthy and diseased regions of a plant leaf, histogram based thresholding
technique was applied. The approach was able to make proper discrimination between
healthy and diseased part of the leaves [40].
Yao et al. (2009) developed a technique for detecting and classifying the
diseases. The technique was initially based on the concept of image processing. The
authors studied the applicability of this technique on rice leaves. Initially, the disease
spots were segmented based on colour analysis after that the shape and texture
features were extracted using feature extraction method. At the end, disease namely
rice sheath blight, rice blast, and bacterial leaf blight, was employed based on the
SVM technique. The detection of image shows result as a close agreement (97.2%)
with actual image. The findings show an effectiveness of SVM in image detection
[78].
Cui et al. (2010) conducted a study on soybean disease with the help of image
processing for identifying the disease severity in multi-spectral images. Multispectral
charged coupled device (CCD) camera and portable spectro-radiometer were used for
the collection of images of diseased leaf. Further, the detection of leaf infection and
severity ratio (lesion color index and rust severity index) were extracted from the
multispectral image. Authors concluded that the authenticity of this method for
detection of soybean rust further requires full scale tests on field to verify the
effectiveness and reliability of this method in real time field investigation [79].
Sekulska-Nalewajko et al. (2011) suggested a segmentation technique for
stained leaves. The fuzzy C-means clustering was used to distinguish several pixel
classes for detection of the disease affected areas. The authors suggested the
advantages of particular method, as it computes clustering time and segmentation
error with good detection of accuracy [80]. Another method was proposed by
Kulkarni et al. (2011) using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for detecting plant
diseases early and accurately. In this technique, filtering and segmentation was done
using Gabor filter on captured images. The segmentation results delivered an image in
the extracted form of colour and texture features. To distinguish the healthy and
diseased samples, ANN was trained by choosing the feature values. The proposed
algorithm shows detection accuracy of 91% [17].

32
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Al-Hiary et al. (2011) designed a solution for automatic detection and

classification of plant diseases (late scorch, early scorch, tiny whiteness, ashen mold
cottony mold) in form of software method. The proposed methodology consists of
four steps, i.e. colour transformation using CIEL*a*b* colour space, segmentation
using k-mean clustering and Otsu’s method, feature extraction using Color Co-
Occurrence Matrix (CCM), and classification using ANN classifier. The proposed
algorithm achieved the efficiency up to 94% and increased the system speed up to
20% [81].
Influence of rice blast and rice sheath diseases on rice leaves were investigated
by Radl and Mariano (2011). The identification of these two diseases was also done
based on the colour analysis. The RGB (Red Green Blue) images were converted into
HIS (Hue Intensity Saturation) colour space and thereafter the k-mean technique was
applied to form the cluster of the pixels of an image having same intensity into a
number of different groups. The generated groups of clusters of an image were
compared to a predefined library of diseased samples [82].
A new approach based on colour transformation to detect diseased leaf was
developed by Chaudhary (2012). Performance analysis of colour models, i.e. YCbCr
(Y stands for luminous and Cb, Cr, stands for colour spaces), HIS (Hue Intensity
Saturation) and CIEL*a *b* was also done. The experimental study was performed on
different families of Monocot, and Dicot plant leaves with and without noise [83].
Vibhute et al. (2012) intended to focus on the survey application of image
processing in agriculture such as weed detection and fruit grading. They concluded
that the analysis of the parameters such as canopy, yield and quality of product
produced to be accurate and less time consuming as compared to traditional methods
[39].
Aji et al. (2013) proposed a linear polynomial method to minimize the
processing time for detecting foliar disease of palm oil leaves. In this method, the
features of diseased leaves were extracted using neural network and then
classification of diseases was done. The system accuracy of 87.75% obtained during
such cases. Then based on disease classification model mathematical equations were
formulated for making it compatible with mobile device [84]. A survey was
conducted by Barbedo (2013) for detection, quantification and classification of foliar
diseases in crop plants by using methods of conversion of digital images into visual
spectrum in digital image processing techniques [85].
33
Chapter - Two Literature Review

An automatic method was proposed by Barbedo et al. (2014) to detect and

measure the leaf disease symptoms using colour analysis and threshold method. The
proposed algorithm shows system robustness with variation in size, shape and colour,
symptoms and veins of the leaves with the limitations of pixel miscalculation error
[86]. In the same, Orillo et al. (2014) developed a methodology to identify rice leaf
diseases based on Back Propagation Artificial Neural Network (BPNN). The
proposed methodology consists of three parts, i.e. image enhancement, image
segmentation and feature extraction. At last, BPNN was used for the accuracy
enhancement and performance improvement of the suggested methodology [87].
An integrated image processing system was developed by Jagtap et al. (2014)
for automatic inspection of leaf batches and identification of disease type. The
proposed system consists of four steps. In the first, image enhancement was applied
using HIS transformation, histogram analysis and intensity adjustment to modify the
original image. In the second step, segmentation of an image using fuzzy c-mean
algorithm was performed. Feature extraction (colour, size and shape of the leaf) was
done in the third step. In last (fourth) step classification was done using BPNN.
Authors concluded that the enhancement in technique can be done with the help of
other disease detection techniques, and synergetic effect of such improved technique
shows the applicability for different leaf diseases [88].
In the modern era, enhancement in the use of internet attracts the science and
engineering techniques to get easy and quick solution, as, it is most efficient and
effective way of communication. Therefore, researcher, Bhange et al. (2015)
developed a web based tool for identifying pomegranate leaf disease. In the first step,
feature extraction (based on colour and morphological features) was done. Thereafter,
to segment the diseased part from healthy region k-mean algorithm and SVM was
used. Accuracy achievement in the proposed method was 82% [89]. Renugambal et
al. (2015) proposed an artificial intelligence technique for automatic detection and
classification of Sugarcane leaf disease using image processing technique. Infected
leaves were captured by using digital camera. After then, the preprocessing and
segmentation was done using image histogram equalization, filtering, color
transformation to detect infected parts of the leaves. Finally, SVM classifier was used
for classification purpose [90].
Dubey (2016) developed an algorithm based on different colour spaces (RGB,
YCbCr, HSV) to detect the leaf rot disease of betel vine leaf. Different colour spaces
34
Chapter - Two Literature Review

like Hue Saturation Value (HSV), RGB, YCbCr were used to segment the diseased
regions of the leaf. Thereafter, Ostu method was applied to detect the disease on leaf.
The process proves to be efficient in detecting leaf rot disease of betel vine [91].
An image segmentation algorithm was proposed by Singh and Misra (2017)
for automatic detection and classification of plant leaf disease (rose, banana, beans).
Segmentation was done using genetic algorithm to distinguish diseased part and the
healthy parts of the leaves. This algorithm was tested on ten species of plant i.e.
Jackfruit, Banana, Mango, Sapota, Potato, Beans, Tomato, Lemon, etc. to check the
accuracy of proposed algorithm. The author accomplished that the algorithm provides
optimum results with less computational efforts in recognition and classification of
leaf disease [92].
Above literature reveals that many of the scientists are working in the field of
agriculture (started from late 1970’s to current) using image processing techniques.
Processing of leaf images for identification and classification of disease consists of
four steps, i.e. image capturing, pre-processing, segmentation, and classification of
disease. Image capturing is the primble step of image processing in which images of
diseased leaves of different crop (i.e. Jackfruit, Banana, Mango, Sapota, Potato,
Beans, Tomato, Lemon, Sunflower, Oat, Cucumber, Maize, Rice, Alfalfa, Soybean,
Palm, Cotton) were acquired using digital cameras, spectro-radiometer, and
multispectral charged coupled device camera. The captured images were further
processed as pre-processing of images using colour transformation (using different
colour space like HSV, HIS, CIEL*a*b* and YCbCr), vector median filter, and
histogram analysis to improve the contrast or visibility of the images to be processed.
Thereafter, segmentation of image was done using thresholding (Ostu method), neural
network, statistic pattern recognition, mathematic morphology, feature (like colour,
shape, and texture extraction) extraction using zooming algorithm, colour analysis, k-
mean clustering, BPNN, SVM, SOM, fuzzy c-mean clustering and gabor filter to
identify the diseased part of the leaves. The classification of disease was done after
the above stated procedure (identification, pre-processing and segmentation). The
various adopted procedures for disease classification are discussed in next section.

35
Chapter - Two Literature Review

2.4.2.2 Use of Image Processing in Classification of Foliar Diseases

Identification of the disease on the crop is considered as a primary step to suggest the
remedial measure. Correct identification of disease is an essential step towards the
removal of the disease. The research studies based on the classification of different
types of diseases are elaborated in the write to follow.
Pydipati et al. (2005) compared two different approaches (Mahalanobis
minimum distance classifier and radial basis function neural network classifiers with
the back-propagation algorithm) to detect and classify two different types of citrus
diseases, namely, greasy spot (Mycosphaerella citri), and melanose (Diaporthe citri).
Thirty-nine texture features were collected by the authors for the comparison in
between two different classification approaches. These two approaches considered,
mahalanobis minimum distance classifier, using nearest neighbour principle and
radial basis function neural network classifiers trained with the back-propagation
algorithm, respectively. The conclusion drawn based on these two techniques
suggested that both classifiers performed equally during the study [93].
A computer vision algorithm was developed by Pydipati et al. (2006) for the
early detection of disease and separation of diseased and healthy citrus leaves. The
method relies on the CCM. The technique or CCM was developed by using of Spatial
Gray-level Dependence Matrices (SGDM). The resulting CCM, generated from the
huge intensity saturation, colour transformation were used to extract 39 texture
features of an image. The texture features was then reduced using a redundancy
reduction method. The elimination of intensity features improved the results, as hue
and saturation features, which were more robust to ambient light variations than the
former ones. The final classification of diseases was performed using discriminate
analysis [94].
Huang (2007) presented a technique based on the application of neural
network in the image processing. The technique was applied for detecting and
classifying phalaenopsis seedling diseases. The classification of the disease was done
using Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and ANN classifier [95].
Six types of mineral deficiencies in rice crops were detected and classified by
Sanyal et al. (2007) by extracting texture and colour features. The features were
introduced in the specific Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network for the
segmentation of leaf. The results obtained from individual analysis by the neural

36
Chapter - Two Literature Review

network were combined for classification of disease in leaf [96]. A similar approach
was used by Sanyal and Patel (2008) for the classification of disease on rice crop. The
results were analyzed for the identification of two different diseases (blast and brown
spots) [97].
Meunkaewjinda (2008) proposed a hybrid intelligent system for detecting
grape leaf disease from colour images. The proposed system of classification consists
of three parts, i.e. leaf colour segmentation, leaf disease segmentation and
classification. In leaf colour segmentation, BPNN was used to segment the leaf colour
from its background. Whereas, leaf disease segmentation was performed using
modified self-organizing feature map with genetic algorithms for optimization. After
that, the segmented image was filtered by gabor wavelet to analyze the leaf disease
colour. Thereafter, SVM was applied to classify the type of grape disease. Authors
concluded that the system has automatic diagnosis capability with good performance
and have extraction limitation of ambiguous colour pixels from the background [98].
Kim et al. (2009) developed a colour imagining system for classifying
grapefruit peel disease under controlled laboratory lighting conditions. An algorithm
was developed for texture feature analysis, where the features were reduced through a
discriminate function and classified based on a measure of the generalized squared
distance [99].
Kurniawati et al. (2009a, 2009b) proposed a method to identify and label three
different kinds of diseases that affect the paddy crop. Two types of thresholding were
adopted for segmenting diseased and healthy parts of the leaves, i.e. Ostu and Local
entropy method. After segementation, the shape and colour features were extracted
for the classification of the disease [100, 101].
Bashish et al. (2010) proposed a framework for detection and classification of
leaf and stem diseases. K-mean technique was used initially to segment the diseased
region of leaf. After the segmentation, the images were passed through a pre-trained
neural network for the classification of the disease. The detection accuracy of the
proposed system for identification and classification of diseases was 93% [2]. At the
same time, Jian and Wei (2010) proposed a method to recognize and classify the type
of cucumber leaf diseases based on threshold method. The colour, shape, and texture
features of a segmented image were extracted and introduced to SVM with radial
basis function for the classification of the disease [102].

37
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Bauer et al. (2011) developed a methodology for the high-resolution multi-

spectral stereo images to classify the leaf disease. K-mean neighbour and adaptive
Bayes classification with Gaussian mixture model was used to classify the disease.
The proposed methodology provided an overall accuracy upto 90% [103].
The development of a plant or crop was evaluated based on an advanced
computing technique by Revathi and Hemalatha (2012). The authors also proposed a
new Homogeneous Pixel Counting Algorithm for Cotton Disease Detection
(HPCCDD algorithm). RGB extraction techniques were used to identify the diseases.
After RGB extraction, colour image segmentation was performed to separate the
disease spots parts or target regions. Thereafter, Homogenize, techniques (Sobel and
Canny filter) were used to recognize the edges of an image and these extracted edge
features were used in classification. Finally, pest recommendation was suggested to
the farmers to ensure the good health of crop and to reduce the yield losses [104].
Dubey and Jalal (2012) developed a technique for the disease on apple leaves.
The technique was based on image processing. Initially, the segmentation was done
for the extraction of local binary features. The segmented images were further
classified using a Multi-Class Support Vector Machine (MSVM) [105]. As
advancement in proposed technique, a solution was suggested based on software
technique for automatic detection and classification of plant leaf diseases was
proposed by Arivazhagan et al. (2013). The process consisted of four major steps
towards attainment of results, as a colour transformation structure for the input RGB
image was created. Thereafter, the green pixels were masked and removed using
specific threshold value followed by the segmentation process and then the texture
statistics were computed for the useful segments. Further, the extracted features were
passed through the classifier for classification [106].
Bandi et al. (2013) proposed a machine vision and image processing technique
to identify the disease on citrus leaves. Disease oncitrus leaves was investigated using
texture analysis based on the CCM and classified using various classifiers (like k-
Nearest Neighbor (kNN), Naive Bayes classifier (NBC), Linear Discriminate
Analysis (LDA) classifier and Random Forest Tree algorithm classifier (RFT). The
proposed system achieved the accuracy of 98.75%. From the analysis, it was
concluded that normal leaves and greasy spot leaves can be classified easily from the
other classes of leaves [107].

38
Chapter - Two Literature Review

A software-based solution for automatic detection and classification of plant

leaf disease was designed by Amoda et al. (2014). The solution consists of four steps.
In first step, a colour transformation structures for RGB leaf image were created and
after that colour space transformation was applied. The k-mean clustering technique
was used for the segmentation of an image in second step. Thereafter, texture features
were calculated and finally these extracted features were passed through a pre-trained
neural network for classification [108].
Singh et al. (2015) proposed a methodology to recognize and classify the
foliar disease of rice using SVM. The first step included the collection of diseased leaf
images from International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). After that, the segmentation
was done using k-mean clustering technique to obtain the infected portion of the
leaves. The texture feature vectors were extracted from the segmented images
obtained from k-mean clustering. This texture features were provided as an input to
the SVM classifier. The classification accuracy of the proposed algorithm was 82%
[109]. In the same contest, Muthukannan et al. developed an approach to classify the
diseased plant leaves using Feed Forward Neural Network (FFNN), Learning Vector
Quantization (LVQ) and Radial Basis Function Networks (RBF). The proposed
algorithm was tested on two different diseased leaves, i.e. bean and bitter ground
leaves. Authors concluded that FFNN classification gives better results as compared
to LVQ and RBF [110].
Nandini and Anoop (2016) proposed a system to detect and classify the
diseases in paddy leaves. The algorithm was divided into two parts, i.e. detection and
classification of the diseases leaves. Detection included Weiner, Adaptive histogram
and Otsu method (for segmenting diseased parts from healthy parts of leaves).
However, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Fuzzy logic were used to classify the
leaf disease [111].
The identification of foliar disease was performed by various researchers.
Some of them are; BPNN, SVM, SOM, Neural Network, and Fuzzy Logic. The brief
overview of the methods or techniques presented above to detect, quantify and
classify various diseases using image processing techniques together with the type of
plants used in research with their applications and detection efficiency are shown in
Table 2.4.

39
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Recent research shows that machine vision has the possiblity to become an
economically viable tool to recognize and classify the disease. The exhaustive
literature survey reveals that no serious attempts had been made in the past on
detecting disease severity at each stage of disease development taking environmental
factors into consideration to the best of our knowledge and that too for disease on
Groundnut leaf.

40
Chapter - Two Literature Review

Table 2.4 Summarization of existing leaf disease detection techniques with their applications

Year/ Plants Techniques used Applications Detection

Reference efficiency (%)
2006 [95] Citrus leaves CCM, HIS, SGDM Reduces the computational time 95
2008 [112] Cucumber leaves SVM, Median filter, CIEL*a*b* colour Classification of cucumber disease 78
space
2008 [99] Grapes leaves BPNN, SVM, Gabor Wavelet, HSI colour Extraction and classification of grape leaf 97.8
space disease
2009 [42] Banana leaves RGB, Colour transformation, Thresholding Identify diseases region -
technique
2009 [79] Rice leaves SVM, Gray level co-occurrence matrix Classify rice disease using shape, colour 97.2
[GLCM], HSV and texture feature
2009 [40] Cotton leaves HSV, SVM classifier Identify visual symptoms of plant disease 93.1
2010 [2] Leaves took from AI k-mean technique, Neural network, HSI, It detects and classifies the disease 93
Ghor area in Jordon CCM, GLCM
2011 [17] Pomegranate leaves CIEL*a*b colour technique, Gabor filter, Distinguishes the healthy and diseased 91
ANN samples
2011 [113] Corn leaves YCbCr colour space, Neural network Classification of various diseases
2011[114] Tomatoes leaves Fourier transform, wavelet packets, GA, Identify nutrient deficiency 82.5
2011[114] Cotton leaves Unsupervised self organizing feature map, Analyze ‘n’ number of cotton disease 90.5
ANN
2012 [105] Cotton leaves HPCCD (homogenous pixel counting Identify cotton disease (fusarium wilt, 98.1
technique for cotton disease detection), verticillium wilt and leaf blight)
Sobel and Canny filter
2012 [116] Rice leaves Baye’s classifier, SVM classifier, mean Identify rice leaves disease using two 68.1 and 79.5
filtering, Otsu’s algorithm classifiers
2012 [117] Wheat and grape PCA, BP, RBF, GRNN (Generalized Two types of disease (grape downy 94.29
leaves regression network), PNN mildew, grape powdery mildew, wheat
stripe rust and wheat leaf rust) identified

41
Chapter - Two Literature Review

2013 [106] 500 plant leaves HSI, colour co-occurrence matrix, SVM Identify disease at early stage 94
2013 [118] Jujube tree Neural network, Feed forward, PCA Classify different disease based on colour, 85.33%
morphological and texture features
2013[87] Palm oil leaves Neural networks Detects hawar and anthracnose leaf disease 87.75
2013[119] Cucumber leaves Median filtering, Gray level co-occurrence Detects downry mildew, powdery mildew 96
matrix and anthracnose disease
2014 [120] Cotton leaves BPNN, Gaussian filter, Snake filter Classification of different diseases 85.52
2014[121] Cotton leaves Skew divergence, SVM, BPN, Fuzzy Classifies bacterial blight, fusarium wilt, 94
classifier, EPSO (enhanced PSO), Genetic leaf blight, root rot, micro nutrient disease,
algorithm, CYMK colour space verticilium wilt
2015 [109] Rice leaves SVM, k-mean Classifies leaf blast disease 82
2015 [89] Pomegranate leaves SVM, k-mean clustering, Color coherence Bacterial blight disease identification 82
vector (CCV) through mobile device
2016 [122] Grape leaves SVM, k-mean clustering Classifies powdery mildew and downy 88.89
mildew
2016 [123] Cotton GLCM, Multi SVM, Ostu global Automatic detection of disease 87.5
thresholding
2017 [124] Crop leaves collected Histogram equalization with Gaussian filter, Disease identification using feature 90.96
from Ghana fields HSV colour space extraction
2017 [92] Banana, Beans, HSV transformation, Classifier (SVM, NN), Identification of disease at early stage 86.72
Lemon, Mango, ANN
Potato, etc.

42
Chapter - Two Literature Review

2.5 Research Gaps

The above stated literature shows the identification and classification of various foliar
diseases on different crops. The researchers conducted the studies on crops such as
Oat, Maize, Cucumber, Rice, Alfalfa, Banana, Soybean, Cotton, Palm, Pomegranate,
Betel Vine, Jackfruit, Mango, Sapota, Potato, Beans, Tomato, Lemon, Citrus, Grape,
and Paddy, for the assessment of foliar diseases. Among all, Groundnut was not
considered by the researcher as an object to assess the disease. The Groundnut is
gaining rapid recognition as an important oilseed in developing countries. However,
the declination in its growth due to foliar disease, attract agriculturist mind towards it.
With the development of modern technology, synergetic effort of agriculturists and
technology scientists, clear the hurdle of correct assessment and estimation of the
disease. In modern era, inherent features of image processing upsurge the demand in
radical manner for identification of diseased part. The disease influencing parameters
such as environmental conditions, soil, sunlight, air, water etc. plays a vital role in
disease severity. Based on the issues raised, some of the research gaps for the current
study are suggested below:
 The identification of foliar disease on Groundnut crop.
 The assessment of disease severity on Groundnut crop.
 The use of image processing for correct assessment of disease severity.
 The disease influencing parameters such as relative humidity and temperature.
 A generalized approach to correct estimation of disease severity for the
application of fungicide.

2.6 Scope of the Proposed Research

The technical aspects under the scope of this research work are as follows:
 Research objectives aim to develop a soft computing algorithm that can assess
the disease affected part of plants in leaves.
 The sample leaves collected from the experimental field of Rajasthan
Agricultural Research Institute (RARI), Durgapura, Jaipur from May to
October 2016.
 The algorithm designed using C# (Programming language) to predict the rate
of increase of artificially created Tikka disease using image processing.

43
Chapter - Two Literature Review

 Image processing toolbox of MATLAB (R2013a) has been used for

calculating disease severity based on the colour processing.
 Threshold severity level has been determined for spraying fungicides to
minimise the crop yield losses.

44