Coconut tree disease segmentation using YOLOv8 (You Only Look Once version 8)

The occurrence of plant diseases has a negative impact on agricultural production. If plant diseases are not observed intime, it will lead huge lose for farmers. Early detection is the basis for effective prevention and control of plant diseases, and they play a vital role in the management and decision making of agricultural production. Coconut palms are affected by a number of diseases, some of which are dangerous and the disease gradually reduces the strength of the palm causing severe loss in the yield. Coconut trees are also attacked by a number of fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes leading to significant quantitative and qualitative loss. In this paper, YOLO v8 algorithm combines both detection and segmentation tasks within a single, unified model, thus facilitating more accurate and granular recognition.