Vegetos
(An International Journal of Plant Research & Biotechnology)
(eISSN: 2229-4473)
Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) based models for yield prediction in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
*Article not assigned to an issue yet
Research Articles | Published: 27 May, 2026
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Keywords: Multilayer perceptron, Multiple linear regression, Decision tree, Data-driven phenotyping, Yield enhancement
Abstract
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the second most widely grown vegetable crop globally. Enhancing yield is still a challenge due to the complexity of yield-attributing characters. Fourteen tomato genotypes were tested across four seasons (2016–2020) under open field conditions for 18 quantitative characters. Three prediction models viz., multilayer perceptron (MLP), multiple linear regression (MLR), and Classification and Regression Tree (decision tree, CART algorithm) were used to identify the most important characters influencing yield per plant (YPP). The MLP identified fruits/plant (FPP) and ascorbic acid (AC) as important yield determinants with low training and testing errors, reflecting high prediction quality. The MLR analysis also validated significant positive influence of FPP and fruit weight (FW) towards yield/plant with an adjusted R2 value of 0.95. The contribution of fruits/plant towards yield/plant alone was 74%. Titrable acidity (TA), lycopene content (LC), total sugar content (TS) and polar diameter (PD) showed negative influence, indicating trade-offs between yield and some quality characters. The Decision Tree model determined threshold-based character splits, validating FPP, flowers/cluster (FC), and FW as the most important factors contributing to YPP. This research illustrated the promise of AI-based phenotyping in trait prioritization and pre-emptive breeding, providing a solid, data-driven platform to expedite genetic gain in tomato.
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Author Information
Department of Agriculture, Brainware University, Barasat, India