Aerial Monitoring of Plant Stress in Greenhouse Grown Seedlings and High-Wire Sweet Pepper

Status: Development
(Started in Sun Jun 15 2025)
In partnership with Vineland Research and Innovation Centre and with funding support from the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI), Saiwa is developing an advanced computer vision and AI-powered platform for early stress detection in greenhouse-grown sweet peppers. This project replaces an earlier cucumber-focused initiative and targets sweet pepper crops—another economically significant greenhouse product in Ontario. By leveraging drone and robotic imagery acquisition, alongside real-time deep learning models, this initiative aims to reduce losses from disease, optimize intervention timing, and improve crop yield and quality.

About Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI)

The Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) drives economic growth and job creation by fostering industry-academic-government partnerships that accelerate R&D, commercialization, and talent development. By supporting the commercialization of academic IP, investing in high-potential startups, and retaining top talent, OCI helps position Ontario as a global leader in innovation. With a strong focus on advanced technologies and strategic sectors, OCI leverages co-investments, facilitates access to emerging tech like 5G and automotive innovation, and helps SMEs and researchers bring cutting-edge solutions to market. In 2020–2021 alone, OCI projects generated $165M in co-investments, attracted $503M in follow-on funding, and helped create or retain over 5,600 jobs.

Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI)'s Website

Objective

The core goal is to elevate Saiwa’s plant health monitoring system from prototype to validated, production-ready software. Specifically, we aim to:

  • Detect early signs of plant stress, including chlorosis (leaf yellowing) and wilting, in high-wire and seedling-stage sweet pepper crops.

  • Provide greenhouse operators with spatial maps of affected zones.

Reduce reliance on prophylactic pesticide applications through targeted, data-driven interventions.

 

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Image Source : GitHub
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Image Source : GitHub

 

Technology and Innovation

The platform integrates:

  • RGB and multispectral imagery from greenhouse environments.

  • Zero-shot and few-shot learning techniques for stress detection.

  • Deep learning models enhanced by anomaly detection modules.

  • Real-time image preprocessing and mapping, converting raw data into actionable orthomosaics.

  • Cloud-based access via Saiwa’s Sairone platform.

The models localize stressed plants and notify operators via an intuitive interface—triggering robotic or manual intervention.

 

Partner: Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

Vineland is a non-profit research organization located in Ontario that delivers innovation through science and technology for the horticulture sector. Their team is providing:

  • Greenhouse space and crop cultivation for experimental sweet pepper trials.

  • Specialized equipment setup, including robotic and multispectral imaging.

  • Controlled stress induction for creating labeled training datasets.

  • Ground-truthing expertise to validate AI model outputs.

Their support ensures the trials represent real-world greenhouse conditions, which is crucial for model performance and commercial viability.

Visit Vineland Research and Innovation Centre to learn more.

 

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Image Source : GitHub
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Image Source : GitHub

 

Funding and Support: Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI)

This project is supported by OCI through its CIT – Development and Commercialization (DC) Program, which fosters commercialization of Ontario-based innovations.

  • OCI Project Number: 36441

Learn more about OCI's programs at www.oc-innovation.ca.

 

Anticipated Outcomes

By project completion, Saiwa will deliver:

  • A validated software prototype for early stress detection in sweet pepper crops.

  • An API-ready AI model for integration into greenhouse management systems.

  • Support for robotic and manual inspection workflows.

  • A scalable module deployable via Sairone, Saiwa's precision agriculture platform.

The technology will ultimately improve greenhouse crop productivity while reducing input costs and enhancing sustainability practices.

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