Sensors and Computer Vision for Quality Assessment of Agricultural Products

A special issue of AgriEngineering (ISSN 2624-7402). This special issue belongs to the section "Pre and Post-Harvest Engineering in Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1032

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Instrumentation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
Interests: machine vision; environmental perception; unmanned systems

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Guest Editor
National Agricultural Intelligent Equipment Technology Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: yield monitoring; precision agriculture; grain elevators; fertilizer spreaders; applicators; spreaders; soil; rotary tillage; planters

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global demand for high-quality, safe, and sustainably produced agricultural products continues to rise, driven by population growth, evolving consumer expectations, and stringent regulatory standards. Recent advances in sensor technologies and computer vision have opened new frontiers for real-time monitoring, grading, and traceability of agricultural commodities. The integration of imaging systems, hyperspectral/multispectral sensors, deep learning models, and edge-computing platforms is transforming how we evaluate freshness, ripeness, defects, nutritional content, and authenticity of fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, and other agricultural goods.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue of AgriEngineering, titled “Sensors and Computer Vision for Quality Assessment of Agricultural Products.”

This Special Issue aims to showcase cutting-edge research at the intersection of sensing technologies, computer vision, and agricultural product quality evaluation. It seeks to compile original studies and comprehensive reviews that demonstrate novel methodologies, system integrations, field or laboratory validations, and practical applications aligned with sustainable and efficient agri-food systems.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Non-destructive sensing techniques (e.g., NIR, hyperspectral, thermal, Raman, fluorescence imaging) for quality traits;
  • Deep learning and machine learning approaches for image-based classification, segmentation, and defect detection;
  • Real-time computer vision systems for on-line sorting and grading in processing facilities;
  • Sensor fusion strategies combining multiple modalities for enhanced accuracy;
  • Portable or low-cost sensing devices for smallholder or on-farm use;
  • Benchmark datasets and open-source tools for agricultural product analysis;
  • Case studies on specific commodities (e.g., apples, rice, coffee, dairy, poultry);
  • Integration of quality assessment systems with robotics, IoT, or blockchain for traceability.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Yongqiang Li
Dr. Xiaofei An
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • computer vision
  • sensors
  • non-destructive quality assessment
  • deep learning
  • agricultural products

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

26 pages, 3199 KB  
Article
XGBoost Ensemble Algorithm for Classifying Tomato Leaf Diseases Based on Texture Descriptors
by Alpamis Kutlimuratov, Baxodir Achilov, Kuanishbay Seitnazarov, Piratdin Allayarov, Islambek Saymanov, Rashid Oteniyazov and Jamshid Khamzaev
AgriEngineering 2026, 8(3), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering8030098 - 5 Mar 2026
Viewed by 625
Abstract
This article presents a simple and understandable approach to the automatic assessment of the severity of late blight on tomato leaves. We collect our own dataset of 5245 RGB images of healthy and diseased tomato leaves and determine five ordinal classes: healthy (0%) [...] Read more.
This article presents a simple and understandable approach to the automatic assessment of the severity of late blight on tomato leaves. We collect our own dataset of 5245 RGB images of healthy and diseased tomato leaves and determine five ordinal classes: healthy (0%) and four infection levels (0.1–10%, 11–25%, 26–50%, and ≥51% of the affected area). Each image is segmented using the global definition of the Otsu threshold, followed by morphological purification, after which seven textural and geometric characteristics are extracted from the contours of the lesion: contrast, number of contours, average and standard deviation of the contour area, average and standard deviation of the contour perimeter, and average area-to-perimeter ratio. All characteristics are normalized and used as input data for the XGBoost classifier. The dataset is randomly split into 80% training and 20% test images, resulting in an independent test set of 1049 images. In this test set, the proposed model provides an overall accuracy of 0.93 and an F1 macro score of 0.93 points, while for each F1 class, it varies from 0.90 to 0.97. The confusion matrix shows a stable difference between neighboring severity levels, while the analysis of the importance of the features confirms the relevance of contour descriptors for characterizing the size and shape of the lesion. This method only runs on a central processor, requires a small amount of memory, and outputs interpretable output data, making it suitable for use in greenhouses and farms with limited computing resources. We also discuss the limitations associated with the boundaries between neighboring classes and the potential shift in the subject area, and we outline directions for expanding the approach to multi-sheet scenes and explicit ordinal loss functions. Full article
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