From bench to field: A systematic review of computer vision for tomato detection in precision agriculture (2018–2025)

  • Philippe Lyonel Mbouembe Touko orcid

    eXsolIT Research Center, Yangsan 50611, Republic of Korea

  • Guoxu Liu orcid

    School of Computer Engineering, Weifang University, Weifang 261061, China

Article ID: 4296
Keywords: YOLO, tomato detection, precision agriculture, object detection, systematic review, edge computing; agricultural robotics, model deployment

Abstract

Accurate tomato detection enables robotic harvesting, crop yield estimation, and tomato quality control, among other agricultural tasks. Despite remarkable advances in computer vision, particularly YOLO models, a significant gap persists between laboratory research and field deployment. This PRISMA-guided review of 110 publications (2018-2025) analyzes the disparity between lab-tested model performance and reliable real-world performance in this context. To quantify current capabilities, we construct a taxonomy based on the sensing platform, task, and environment. Across the reviewed literature, the mean average precision has increased from 78.3% for YOLOv3 to 94.7% for YOLOv11, while a controlled benchmarking study on an identical dataset (LaboroTomato) reveals smaller differences. However, tomato detection performance significantly drops in deployment, with a mean cross-domain performance loss of 8.24% due to occlusion, illumination changes, and weather conditions. Our reproducibility audit shows that most research lacks protocols for model development and that 12% releases make their public code available. Finally, 73% of high-accuracy models have requirements above the popular edge-device sizes commonly used in agricultural robotics. To bridge this implementation gap, we outline: 1) reporting guidelines to promote reproducibility, 2) decision frameworks to translate pragmatic agricultural considerations into concrete technical specifications, and 3) open research directions centered on reliability, cross-domain validation, and real-world deployment. This survey will support practitioners in agriculture, robotics, and machine learning design, deployable computer vision systems for tomatoes and other crops.

Published
2025-12-15
How to Cite
Touko, P. L. M., & Liu, G. (2025). From bench to field: A systematic review of computer vision for tomato detection in precision agriculture (2018–2025). Computing and Artificial Intelligence, 3(4). https://doi.org/10.59400/cai4296
Section
Review

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