sarah M. Alhammad ^1,2* Doaa Khafaga ^1,2 Walaa M. El-hady ^3,4* Farid M. Samy ^3,5* Khalid M. Hosny ^3,5*

• ¹ Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ² Independent researcher, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• ³ Zagazig University, Zagazig, Al Sharqia, Egypt
• ⁴ Other, Zagazig, Egypt
• ⁵ Independent researcher, Zagazig, Egypt

The accurate classification of potato leaf diseases plays a pivotal role in ensuring the health and productivity of crops. This study presents a unified approach for addressing this challenge by leveraging the power of Explainable AI (XAI) and transfer learning within a deep Learning framework. In this research, we propose a transfer learning-based deep learning model that is tailored for potato leaf disease classification. Transfer learning enables the model to benefit from pre-trained neural network architectures and weights, enhancing its ability to learn meaningful representations from limited labeled data. Additionally, Explainable AI techniques are integrated into the model to provide interpretable insights into its decision-making process, contributing to its transparency and usability. We used a publicly available potato leaf disease dataset to train the model. The results obtained are 97% for validation accuracy and 98% for testing accuracy. This study applies gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) to enhance model interpretability. This interpretability is vital for improving predictive performance, fostering trust, and ensuring seamless integration into agricultural practices.