Using artificial neural networks for detecting damage on tobacco leaves caused by blue mold

Worldwide, the monitoring of pests and diseases plays a fundamental role in the agricultural sustainability; making necessary the development of new tools for early pest detection. In this sense, we present a software application for detecting damage in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) leaves caused by the fungus of blue mold (Peronospora tabacina Adam). This software application processes tobacco leaves images using a pattern recognition technique known as Artificial Neural Network. For the training and testing stages, a total of 40 images of tobacco leaves were used. The experimentation carried out shows that the developed model has accuracy higher than 97% and there is no significant difference with a visual analysis carried out by experts in tobacco crop.