Classification of Downy Mildew Disease in Watermelon Plant Leaf using VGG-16 Convolutional Neural Network

Downy Mildew, caused by Pseudoperonospora cubensis, poses a serious threat to watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) crops, with the potential to drastically reduce yields and cause substantial economic losses in the agricultural sector. Early and accurate detection is essential for mitigating these impacts and maintaining crop productivity. An automatic detection system was developed using the VGG-16 Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model, selected for its high accuracy. Trained and validated on a dataset of 585 images, split into 80% for training and 20% for validation, the model achieved 100% accuracy in both phases, with minimal losses of 0.0325 and 0.0098 respectively. These results underscore the model's potential for precise Downy Mildew detection, supporting improved disease management in precision agriculture.