Deep learning-based arecanut detection for X-ray radiography: improving performance and efficiency for automated classification and quality control

X-ray radiography is a valuable, non-destructive tool and can be used to examine the internal components or quality attributes of agricultural commodities, including arecanut. The true quality of an arecanut can be determined using destructive methods through visual inspection. However, dissected arecanuts do not have a shelf life. There is no non-destructive method available for grading arecanuts. We employ X-ray imaging as an aid to conduct internal examinations of arecanuts, allowing for thorough inspection without causing damage. A custom X-ray image dataset of arecanuts is created for automated interpretation of grades. We developed a hybrid arecanut grading model using YOLOv5s architecture incorporating the Stem, the GhostNet and the Transformer blocks. The proposed hybrid architecture outperforms in comparison with state-of-the-art models with a mean average precision (mAP) of 97.30%. The proposed 9.5 MB lightweight model can easily fit into X-ray devices, making it ideal for detecting arecanut grades in the industry. This method could transform the standards of quality inspection for arecanut. Its incorporation could establish a new industry benchmark for unparalleled quality assessment using X-ray technology as a non-destructive tool.