XLTLDisNet: A novel and lightweight approach to identify tomato leaf diseases with transparency

Agricultural productivity is essential for global economic development by ensuring food security, boosting incomes and supporting employment. It enhances stability, reduces poverty and promotes sustainable growth, creating a robust foundation for overall economic progress and improved quality of life worldwide. However, crop diseases can significantly affect agricultural output and economic resources. The early detection of these diseases is essential to minimize losses and maximize production. In this study, a novel Deep Learning (DL) model called Explainable Lightweight Tomato Leaf Disease Network (XLTLDisNet) has been proposed. The proposed model has been trained and evaluated using a publicly available PlantVillage tomato leaf disease dataset containing ten classes of tomato leaf diseases including healthy images. By leveraging different data augmentation techniques, the proposed…