Lightweight vision transformer and ResNet-9 models for real-time plant disease detection and pest classification with SHAP explainability
Published in Bioengineering & Biotechnology, Earth & Environment, and Sustainability
Context
The rapid advancement of digital technologies alongside increased global commitment to sustainability has intensified the need for efficient crop management solutions. Across agricultural systems, delayed detection and misclassification of plant diseases remain major contributors to reduced yields, threatening food security and undermining progress toward Sustainable Development Goals such as Zero Hunger, No Poverty, Good Health and Well-being, Climate Action, and Life on Land. Plant pests, diseases, and excessive chemical use further exacerbate these challenges. Early, automated visual detection offers a pathway to environmentally responsible and economically viable agricultural practices.
Objective
This study aims to develop and evaluate an automated, real-time plant disease classification framework using Vision Transformers (ViT) and hybrid ViT–CNN architectures, with the goal of supporting farmers and agronomists in early decision-making and sustainable crop protection.
Methods
The research employs deep learning techniques, including ViT and a combined ViT–CNN model built on ResNet-9, trained and evaluated using four publicly available datasets: the Turkey Plant Pests and Diseases (TPPD) dataset (15 classes), the Namibia Maize Image Dataset (3 classes), the Banana Image Dataset (3 classes), and the Tanzania Maize Dataset (3 classes). SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were applied to generate saliency maps for interpretability. Comparative analyses assessed performance, accuracy, and classification speed across attention-based and hybrid architectures.
Results and conclusions
The proposed model achieved strong performance with 97.4% accuracy, 96.4% precision, 97.09% recall, a 95.7% F1-score, and high agreement measured by Cohen’s Kappa, outperforming existing benchmark models. SHAP visualizations highlighted that the model leverages high-activation areas, edge features, color patterns, texture, shape, and contextual cues in its predictions. While attention-based models improved accuracy, they also caused reduced classification speed. However, integrating attention blocks with CNN layers effectively compensated for this slowdown, achieving both high accuracy and efficient inference. To evaluate the interpretability and deployment feasibility of the proposed model, we considered several parameters are considered to have an integration of faithfulness, localization quality, sparsity, latency, and energy of the models, including pointing accuracy, localization IoU, Centroid Localization Error (pixels), Attribution Sparsity (%), Insertion AUC, Deletion AUC, Time per Explanation (ms/image), Energy Consumption (J/image), Memory Footprint (MB).
Significance
This research provides a transparent and high-performing deep learning solution for plant disease classification, promoting sustainable agricultural development. By reducing reliance on excessive pesticide and herbicide use, enhancing early diagnosis, and improving decision-making, the model supports environmentally responsible farming practices and contributes to global efforts toward food security and ecological resilience. The significance of this evaluation is that it comprehensively assesses the model’s interpretability and real-world deployability by measuring explanation reliability (faithfulness), spatial precision (localization quality), efficiency (latency and memory), and sustainability (energy consumption), ensuring the model is not only accurate but also transparent, efficient, and practical for deployment. Details at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12870-026-08667-8
Wasswa Shafik, born in Makindye, Kampala City, Uganda, is a Computer Scientist, Information Technologist, Founder, and Research Director at the Dig Connectivity Research Laboratory (DCRLab), Kampala, Uganda. He received his Bachelor’s in information technology engineering with a minor in mathematics at Ndejje University, Luweero, Uganda, and a Master’s in information technology engineering (communication and computer networks option) at Yazd University, Yazd, Islamic Republic of Iran. He pursued his PhD in digital science (computer science) at the School of Digital Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam. His research broadly examines, integrates, and focuses on developing computationally and statistically efficient models and algorithms to address complex questions about artificial intelligence and machine learning problems. His specific research interests include sustainable development, smart agriculture, computer vision, ecological informatics, applied artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cybersecurity and privacy, and smart computing. He has authored, coauthored, edited, coedited, and published hundreds of peer-reviewed books, technical papers, and journal papers, and numerous IEEE international conference papers. His “Hirsch index” is 20+ (source: Scopus Author ID 57210203704). He is the coeditor of Blockchain Technologies for Smart Circular Economy and Organisational Sustainability and Transforming Healthcare Sector Through Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Sustainability (Springer Nature, 2025 and 2024, respectively). He is a member of IEEE and served as a reviewer of several international journals indexed in Scopus, Compendex (Elsevier Engineering Index), and WoS He served in different capacities as department support for mathematics for data science, physical computing for intelligence systems, advanced topics in computing, advanced algorithms, and system performance and evaluation. Prior to this, as a department fellow, he served as a research associate at the Intelligent Network Laboratory in Iran. He served in different capacities as a Community Data Officer at the Programme for Accessible Health, Communication and Education; Research Associate and Data Manager at Population Services International; Data Manager and Research Assistant at the Socio-economic Data Center; Research Lead at TechnoServe; and Ag. Chief Executive Officer at Asmaah Charity Organisation.
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