Classification of Seed Cotton Yield based on the Growth stages of Cotton crop using Machine Learning Techniques Jamuna KS, Karpagavalli S, Vijaya MS GR Govindarajulu School of Applied Computer Technology Coimbatore 641 004, India {ksjamuna, karpagam,msvijaya}@grgsact.com Revathi P, Gokilavani S, Madhiya E PSGR Krishnammal college for Women Coimbatore 641 004, India {kvrevathi1, gokimsc100,emadhiya}@gmail.com Abstract— Cotton, popularly known as “White Gold” has been an important commercial crop of national significance due to the immense influence of its rural economy. Cotton seed is an important and critical link in the chain of agricultural activities extending farmer industry linkage. Cotton yield is associated with high quality seed as the seed contains in itself the blue print for the agrarian prosperity in incipient form. Transfer of technology to identify the quality of seeds is gaining importance. Hence this work employs machine learning approach to classify the quality of seeds based on the different growth stages of the cotton crop. Machine learning techniques – Naïve Bayes Classifier, Decision Tree Classifier and Multilayer Perceptron were applied for training the model. Features are extracted from a set of 900 records of different categories to facilitate training and implementation. The performance of the model was evaluated using 10 -fold cross validation. The results obtained show that Decision Tree Classifier and Multilayer Perceptron provides the same accuracy in classifying the seed cotton yield. The time taken to build the model is higher in Multilayer Perceptron as compared to the Decision Tree Classifier. Keywords— Machine Learning, Classification, Seed cotton yield, Growth stages of Cotton I. INTRODUCTION Cotton continues to occupy an important place as the premier crop of commerce in our country. Cotton seed is an important and critical link in the chain of agricultural activities as it contains in itself the blue print for the agrarian prosperity in incipient form. The high quality seed should posses true characteristics of a particular variety and should posses atleast the minimum quality standards for seed certification. Hence, emphasis has to be given to furnish a complete package of practices for quality seed cotton (kapas) and quality seed production. In order to bring environmental, economic benefits and uplift the livelihood of cotton growing farmers there is an urgent need to refine various cotton cultivation technologies to suit our specific requirements. The production and supply of kapas and seed of improved varieties and hybrids with designed quality attributes is a highly technical task and differs from that of evaluation of varieties. This work concentrates on the various growth stages of the cotton crop and classifies the seed cotton using machine learning techniques. II. COTTON GROWTH AND STAGES Cotton is a major row crop grown primarily for fiber and seed. The development and function of the root system of the cotton plant is critical to the growth of the whole plant and in the determination of yield. There are many factors that can influence the development and function of the root system. These factors can be categorized into either environmental or biological. Environmental factors include soil temperature, soil compaction, water and nutrient availability and chemical factors such as pH, herbicides and fertilizers. Biological factors include diseases and nematodes. [1]. Plant development in cotton proceeds through five main growth stages: germination and emergence, seedling establishment, leaf area-canopy development, flowering and boll development and maturation. A better understanding of cotton growth and development in commercial production is important in the continuing efforts of growers to produce lint and seed yield more efficiently and profitably. Root growth occurs in all of these stages, particularly in the early stages when the emphasis of the plant is in the establishment of an adequate root system to support the subsequent fruit development. Germination begins with the entry of moisture within the first few hours. Under favorable conditions for germination; the radicle emerges through the pointed micropylar end of the seed in two to three days Germination is favored by high soil oxygen, adequate soil moisture and soil temperatures above 65° F. Germination of cotton seed can begin when the average daily soil temperature is 60 ° F or slightly below at seeding depths, but growth will be slow at these temperatures. Under favorable conditions, seedlings emerge in 5 to 10 days and require 50 to 60 heat units. Possible problems that hinder germination include poor seed quality, flooding, soil crusting, salinity, herbicide residue, cool temperatures and disease. The overall growth and development of the cotton plant follows a typical sigmoid curve. Each stage may have different physiological processes operating with specific requirements. Management strategies need to take this shoot and root development and associated requirements into consideration to optimize yields. 2010 International Conference on Advances in Computer Engineering 978-0-7695-4058-0/10 $26.00 © 2010 IEEE DOI 10.1109/ACE.2010.71 312