Apple leaf disease severity grading based on deep learning and the DRL-Watershed algorithm.

Apple leaf diseases significantly impair the photosynthetic efficiency and growth quality of apple trees, leading to reduced fruit yields. Existing methods for disease detection and severity classification struggle to quickly and accurately segment and quantify diseased areas on leaves, particularly in complex backgrounds. To address this issue, we propose a method for assessing the severity of apple leaf diseases based on a combination of improved HRNet and DRL-watershed algorithms.