Deep learning-based seed germination prediction using morphological traits and RGB images

Abstract Seed selection constitutes the initial and one of the most critical steps in agricultural productivity. The identification of high-quality seeds is a labor-intensive and costly process that requires considerable expertise. Within the scope of smart farming applications, this study proposes a deep learning–based model designed to automate the seed selection process by accurately predicting seed germination capacity from seed images. The proposed model determines whether a seed will germinate using RGB images and morphological traits automatically extracted from these images. The dataset used in this study comprises a total of 3,645 images belonging to three different seed types. For each seed type (okra, eggplant, and tomato), 405 seed images were acquired from three distinct imaging sources (digital microscope, camera, and scanner), labeled, and subsequently sown in seed trays. The germination status of each sown seed was systematically monitored and matched with its corresponding image data. The dataset was partitioned into 80% training and 20% testing subsets. Following 5-fold stratified cross-validation, the proposed model achieved an average weighted F1-score of 0.95 on the training set and 0.93 on the testing set for germination capacity prediction. The performance of the proposed model was further compared with widely used deep convolutional neural network architectures, including VGG19, ResNet50, and EfficientNetB5. Comparative results demonstrate that the proposed model provides competitive and robust performance for seed germination prediction. Overall, the findings indicate that the proposed approach can effectively be utilized for automated seed germination prediction. Future research should evaluate the generalizability of the model by conducting performance assessments on additional seed types.