Modeling realistic 3D agricultural vegetations using a photometric-based approach and its application to weed detection

•A photometric framework to model and render agricultural vegetations is proposed.•The photometric approach captures detailed leaf geometric and optical properties.•A parametric L-system template is used to model plant structure and development.•The powerfulness of the framework is demonstrated by applying to weed detection.•The promising results support the development of 3D crop/weed model repositories.