Optimizing Potato Disease Detection in Pakistan with Machine Learning: A Comparative Analysis

The agricultural sector of Pakistan depends heavily on the production of potatoes, however diseases like Bacterial Wilt, Late Blight, and Early Blight are posing a growing danger to this industry since they can negatively affect crop productivity and food security. Detecting these illnesses using traditional methods is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and sometimes it requires specialized knowledge which is not easy for farmers. The implementation of a machine learning (ML) framework for illness identification using the methods of K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN), Random Forest (RF), Decision Tree (DT), Naive Bayes (NB), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Logistic Regression (LR) overcomes these challenges. This study utilizes data mining and preprocessing strategies to improve the accuracy of models and adaptability on a dataset of potato plants’ photos gathered across diverse areas in Pakistan. The models are assessed using performance criteria such computational efficiency, accuracy, precision, recall and F1-score. Random Forest model having 97% accuracy outperforms the other ML models in identifying plant disease. The suggested approach provides a practical, affordable, and effective way to identify diseases in a timely manner, allowing farmers to make informed decisions to lower crop losses. The aim of the study is to highlight how ML has the potential to transform Pakistani agriculture, enhancing food security and promoting long-term economic prosperity.