Detection of Curved Rows and Gaps in Aerial Images of Sugarcane Field Using Image Processing Techniques

Sugarcane is one of the main crops in the world due to its economic value promoted by the sale of its derivatives, such as bioethanol and sugar. In order to achieve greater economic performance and productivity in the sugarcane field, several digital image processing studies have been conducted on sugarcane field images. However, mapping and measuring gaps in the planting rows are still being performed manually on-site to determine whether to replant the entire area or only the gaps. High cost of time and manpower is required to perform the manual measurement. Based on that, the aim of this study is to present a novel method to detect crop rows and measure gaps in crop fields. Our method is also able to deal with curved crop rows, which is a real problem and substantially limits numerous solutions in practical applications. The proposed method is evaluated using a mosaic of real scene image that was prepared with the support of a small remotely piloted aircraft. Experimental tests showed a low relative error of approximately 1.65% compared to manual mapping in the planting regions, even for regions with gaps in the curved crop rows. It means that our proposal can identify and measure crop rows accurately, which enables automated inspections with high-precision measurements.