Utilization of Deep Learning YOLO V9 for Identification and Classification of Toraja Buffalo Breeds

This study aims to develop and evaluate a buffalo breed detection system that supports the cultural practices of the Toraja community, particularly in the context of the Rambu Solo’ ceremony. The ceremony places significant importance on the types of buffaloes used, as each breed symbolizes different social statuses and cultural meanings. In response to the need for an accurate and efficient identification method, this research utilizes the YOLOv9 (You Only Look Once version 9) deep learning model to detect and classify Toraja buffalo breeds. A dataset comprising 2,656 annotated images was used, representing five distinct buffalo categories: bongga sori, bonga ulu, moon, saleko, and todi. The images were collected from both field documentation and online sources. The YOLOv9 model was trained across 90 epochs, aiming to achieve high accuracy in breed detection and classification. The evaluation results demonstrate the model's strong performance, achieving a precision of approximately 0.9 and a recall of 0.8. These metrics indicate the model's ability to correctly identify the buffalo breeds with a high degree of reliability. However, during the training process, certain patterns of overfitting and underfitting were observed, suggesting that the model's performance could still be improved. These issues can potentially be addressed by increasing the volume and diversity of training data, applying data augmentation techniques, and fine-tuning hyperparameters to achieve a more balanced generalization. Overall, the findings show that YOLOv9 is a promising tool for supporting cultural preservation through technology by automating the identification of buffalo types used in traditional ceremonies. This system can assist in maintaining the accuracy and consistency of buffalo classification according to local customs. Future research is recommended to explore broader datasets, compare alternative object detection algorithms, and develop an integrated application for practical field use.