Identifying Peach Trees in Cultivated Land Using U-Net Algorithm

Non-grain production has emerged as a potential threat to grain production capacity and security in China. Agricultural products with higher economic returns are beginning to replace traditional grain crops, which have relatively low economic returns on a large scale. In this study, we proposed and verified an identification method utilizing an unmanned aerial vehicle and a U-net algorithm to distinguish peach trees in cultivated land; the overall accuracy for verification and prediction were 0.90 and 0.92, respectively. Additionally, a non-grain production index was developed to assess the degree of non-grain production in target plots. The index was 76.90% and 91.38% in the projected plots, representing a high degree of non-grain production. This combination of an identification method and non-grain production index could provide efficient tools for agricultural management to inspect peach trees in cultivated land, thus replacing field measurements to achieve significant labor savings. Furthermore, this method can provide a reference for creating high-standard farmland, sustainable development of cultivated land, and policymaking.