Research Article

Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels

Volume: 54 Number: 2 November 27, 2025
TR EN

Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels

Abstract

Leaf Area (LA) is a critical parameter for crop monitoring and evapotranspiration estimation. This study aimed to estimate bell pepper LA values using different machine learning (ML) models and to evaluate the effect of different irrigation levels on model performance. Random Forest (RF), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) were used as ML algorithms. In order to obtain a large data set, the LA values of bell pepper grown at four different irrigation levels were used. In this context, a 2-year field trial was conducted. LA values from the first year (2017) were used in the training of the models (6757 samples), while LA values from the second year (2018) (6128 samples) were used as test data. According to the results of this study, MLP (R2=0.9, RMSE=0.2 cm2 and MAE=0.15 cm2) showed the highest performance among used ML algorithms, while XGBoost (R2=0.9, RMSE=0.2 cm2 and MAE=0.15 cm2) showed the lowest performance. Moreover, similar performances were obtained when LA values obtained from different irrigation levels were evaluated separately. The results show that ML methods can estimate LA quickly and accurately as an alternative to traditional methods.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

Ondokuz Mayıs University

Project Number

PYO.ZRT.1904.19.001

Ethical Statement

This study was supported by the Ondokuz Mayıs University (PYO.ZRT.1904.19.001).

References

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  2. Falodun, E., Obuo, O., 2024. Effect of plant spacing and fertilizer application on growth and yield of bell pepper (Capsicum annum) in experimental farm at Benin city, Edo state, Nigeria. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management, 28(3):929-935.
  3. Novák, V., P. Šařec, O. Látal, 2024. Effect of Biostimulant, Manure Stabilizer, and Manure on Soil Physical Properties and Vegetation Status. Plants, 13(7):920.
  4. Weraduwage, S.M., Chen, J., Anozie, F.C., Morales, A., Weise, S.E., Sharkey, T.D., 2015. The relationship between leaf area growth and biomass accumulation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Frontiers in Plant Science, 6, 167.
  5. Cemek, B., Ünlükara, A., Kurunç, A., Küçüktopcu, E., 2020. Leaf area modeling of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) grown under different stress conditions by soft computing approaches. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 174, 105514.
  6. Demirsoy, H., 2009. Leaf area estimation in some species of fruit tree by using models as a non-destructive method. Fruits 64(1):45-51.
  7. Öztürk, A., Cemek, B., Demirsoy, H., Küçüktopcu, E., 2019. Modelling of the leaf area for various pear cultivars using neuro computing approaches. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 17(4):e0206-e0206.
  8. Demirsoy, H., Küçüktopçu, E., Doğan, D.E., 2025. Novel Machine Learning Approaches for Accurate Leaf Area Estimation in Apples. Applied Fruit Science 67(2):1-10.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Agricultural Engineering (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

November 27, 2025

Submission Date

September 19, 2025

Acceptance Date

November 13, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 54 Number: 2

APA
Tunca, E., & Köksal, E. S. (2025). Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels. Bahçe, 54(2), 133-143. https://izlik.org/JA42DE93JE
AMA
1.Tunca E, Köksal ES. Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels. Bahçe. 2025;54(2):133-143. https://izlik.org/JA42DE93JE
Chicago
Tunca, Emre, and Eyüp Selim Köksal. 2025. “Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels”. Bahçe 54 (2): 133-43. https://izlik.org/JA42DE93JE.
EndNote
Tunca E, Köksal ES (November 1, 2025) Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels. Bahçe 54 2 133–143.
IEEE
[1]E. Tunca and E. S. Köksal, “Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels”, Bahçe, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 133–143, Nov. 2025, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA42DE93JE
ISNAD
Tunca, Emre - Köksal, Eyüp Selim. “Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels”. Bahçe 54/2 (November 1, 2025): 133-143. https://izlik.org/JA42DE93JE.
JAMA
1.Tunca E, Köksal ES. Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels. Bahçe. 2025;54:133–143.
MLA
Tunca, Emre, and Eyüp Selim Köksal. “Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels”. Bahçe, vol. 54, no. 2, Nov. 2025, pp. 133-4, https://izlik.org/JA42DE93JE.
Vancouver
1.Emre Tunca, Eyüp Selim Köksal. Estimating Bell Pepper Leaf Area: A Comparative Study of Machine Learning Models Under Varying Irrigation Levels. Bahçe [Internet]. 2025 Nov. 1;54(2):133-4. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA42DE93JE

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