YOLOv8-Scm: an improved model for citrus fruit sunburn identification and classification in complex natural scenes

Citrus ranks among the most widely cultivated and economically vital fruit crops globally, with southern China being a major production area. In recent years, global warming has intensified extreme weather events, such as prolonged high temperature and strong solar radiation, posing increasing risks...

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Main Authors: Guoxun Cong, Xinghong Chen, Zongyu Bing, Wenhuan Liu, Xiangling Chen, Qun Wu, Zheng Guo, Yongqiang Zheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Plant Science
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1591989/full
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author Guoxun Cong
Guoxun Cong
Xinghong Chen
Xinghong Chen
Zongyu Bing
Zongyu Bing
Wenhuan Liu
Wenhuan Liu
Xiangling Chen
Qun Wu
Zheng Guo
Zheng Guo
Yongqiang Zheng
Yongqiang Zheng
author_facet Guoxun Cong
Guoxun Cong
Xinghong Chen
Xinghong Chen
Zongyu Bing
Zongyu Bing
Wenhuan Liu
Wenhuan Liu
Xiangling Chen
Qun Wu
Zheng Guo
Zheng Guo
Yongqiang Zheng
Yongqiang Zheng
author_sort Guoxun Cong
collection DOAJ
description Citrus ranks among the most widely cultivated and economically vital fruit crops globally, with southern China being a major production area. In recent years, global warming has intensified extreme weather events, such as prolonged high temperature and strong solar radiation, posing increasing risks to citrus production,leading to significant economic losses. Existing identification methods struggle with accuracy and generalization in complex environments, limiting their real-time application. This study presents an improved, lightweight citrus sunburn recognition model, YOLOv8-Scm, based on the YOLOv8n architecture. Three key enhancements are introduced: (1) DSConv module replaces the standard convolution for a more efficient and lightweight design, (2) Global Attention Mechanism (GAM) improves feature extraction for multi-scale and occluded targets, and (3) EIoU loss function enhances detection precision and generalization. The YOLOv8-Scm model achieves improvements of 2.0% in mAP50 and 1.5% in Precision over the original YOLOv8n, with only a slight increase in computational parameters (0.182M). The model’s Recall rate decreases minimally by 0.01%. Compared to other models like SSD, Faster R-CNN, YOLOv5n, YOLOv7-tiny, YOLOv8n, and YOLOv10n, YOLOv8-Scm outperforms in mAP50, Precision, and Recall, and is significantly more efficient in terms of computational parameters. Specifically, the model achieves a mAP50 of 92.7%, a Precision of 86.6%, and a Recall of 87.2%. These results validate the model’s superior capability in accurately detecting citrus sunburn across diverse and challenging natural scenarios. YOLOv8-Scm enables accurate, real-time citrus sunburn monitoring, providing strong technical support for smart orchard management and practical deployment.
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language English
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publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
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series Frontiers in Plant Science
spelling doaj-art-6a7c14c679764b4e8385145bb84351622025-08-20T03:50:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2025-07-011610.3389/fpls.2025.15919891591989YOLOv8-Scm: an improved model for citrus fruit sunburn identification and classification in complex natural scenesGuoxun Cong0Guoxun Cong1Xinghong Chen2Xinghong Chen3Zongyu Bing4Zongyu Bing5Wenhuan Liu6Wenhuan Liu7Xiangling Chen8Qun Wu9Zheng Guo10Zheng Guo11Yongqiang Zheng12Yongqiang Zheng13National Digital Planting (Citrus) Innovation Sub-Center, National Engineering Research Center for Citrus Technology, Citrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaCitrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaNational Digital Planting (Citrus) Innovation Sub-Center, National Engineering Research Center for Citrus Technology, Citrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaCitrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaNational Digital Planting (Citrus) Innovation Sub-Center, National Engineering Research Center for Citrus Technology, Citrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaCitrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaNational Digital Planting (Citrus) Innovation Sub-Center, National Engineering Research Center for Citrus Technology, Citrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaCitrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaHorticultural Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi, ChinaQuzhou Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Quzhou, Zhejiang, ChinaNational Digital Planting (Citrus) Innovation Sub-Center, National Engineering Research Center for Citrus Technology, Citrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaCitrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaNational Digital Planting (Citrus) Innovation Sub-Center, National Engineering Research Center for Citrus Technology, Citrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaCitrus Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaCitrus ranks among the most widely cultivated and economically vital fruit crops globally, with southern China being a major production area. In recent years, global warming has intensified extreme weather events, such as prolonged high temperature and strong solar radiation, posing increasing risks to citrus production,leading to significant economic losses. Existing identification methods struggle with accuracy and generalization in complex environments, limiting their real-time application. This study presents an improved, lightweight citrus sunburn recognition model, YOLOv8-Scm, based on the YOLOv8n architecture. Three key enhancements are introduced: (1) DSConv module replaces the standard convolution for a more efficient and lightweight design, (2) Global Attention Mechanism (GAM) improves feature extraction for multi-scale and occluded targets, and (3) EIoU loss function enhances detection precision and generalization. The YOLOv8-Scm model achieves improvements of 2.0% in mAP50 and 1.5% in Precision over the original YOLOv8n, with only a slight increase in computational parameters (0.182M). The model’s Recall rate decreases minimally by 0.01%. Compared to other models like SSD, Faster R-CNN, YOLOv5n, YOLOv7-tiny, YOLOv8n, and YOLOv10n, YOLOv8-Scm outperforms in mAP50, Precision, and Recall, and is significantly more efficient in terms of computational parameters. Specifically, the model achieves a mAP50 of 92.7%, a Precision of 86.6%, and a Recall of 87.2%. These results validate the model’s superior capability in accurately detecting citrus sunburn across diverse and challenging natural scenarios. YOLOv8-Scm enables accurate, real-time citrus sunburn monitoring, providing strong technical support for smart orchard management and practical deployment.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1591989/fullYOLO v8nYOLOv8-Scmcitrus sunburnsmart orchard monitoringobject detection
spellingShingle Guoxun Cong
Guoxun Cong
Xinghong Chen
Xinghong Chen
Zongyu Bing
Zongyu Bing
Wenhuan Liu
Wenhuan Liu
Xiangling Chen
Qun Wu
Zheng Guo
Zheng Guo
Yongqiang Zheng
Yongqiang Zheng
YOLOv8-Scm: an improved model for citrus fruit sunburn identification and classification in complex natural scenes
Frontiers in Plant Science
YOLO v8n
YOLOv8-Scm
citrus sunburn
smart orchard monitoring
object detection
title YOLOv8-Scm: an improved model for citrus fruit sunburn identification and classification in complex natural scenes
title_full YOLOv8-Scm: an improved model for citrus fruit sunburn identification and classification in complex natural scenes
title_fullStr YOLOv8-Scm: an improved model for citrus fruit sunburn identification and classification in complex natural scenes
title_full_unstemmed YOLOv8-Scm: an improved model for citrus fruit sunburn identification and classification in complex natural scenes
title_short YOLOv8-Scm: an improved model for citrus fruit sunburn identification and classification in complex natural scenes
title_sort yolov8 scm an improved model for citrus fruit sunburn identification and classification in complex natural scenes
topic YOLO v8n
YOLOv8-Scm
citrus sunburn
smart orchard monitoring
object detection
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2025.1591989/full
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