According to surveys, a significant percentage of fruits and vegetables are wasted in developed nations due to inadequate storage and transportation conditions. As a result, these agricultural commodities become unsuitable even before reaching the market. The primary reason behind this issue is the lack of control over factors such as humidity, temperature, CO2 levels, and other relevant indicators by the farmer, freight carriers, and suppliers.
This concern can be addressed by implementing blockchain in the agriculture sector. Discussed below are a few use cases of blockchain in agriculture.
Without a transparent system to track storage conditions, it becomes challenging to monitor and ensure proper handling, temperature control, and other factors that impact product quality. This increases the risk of spoilage, deterioration, or contamination during storage and transportation. For food safety issues or contamination outbreaks, tracing the origin and distribution of affected products becomes cumbersome and time-consuming. This delays necessary actions like recalls, risking consumer safety and undermining public trust in the food supply chain.
Dedicated sensors can collect important information and record it in real-time in a blockchain-based decentralized distribution book to track the storage and movement of agricultural products. As a consequence, stakeholders (farmers, distributors, and consumers) will be able to pinpoint when the food went bad and prevent it from happening again.
The agricultural product market is international. Supermarkets stock food from Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Alaska. The delivery is handled by a convoluted logistic structure that channels products via hundreds of middlemen; to put it mildly, the efficacy of interaction between them leaves much to be desired.
According to World Economic Forum research, reducing bureaucratic barriers in logistics and supply chains with new technology will increase global commerce by 15% and global GDP by 5%. Experts think that blockchain is the only technology capable of overcoming these constraints.
Weather, inelastic demand and supply, and global market circumstances all contribute to the reality that the majority of agricultural product sales revenues wind up in the wallets of middlemen and merchants. While the wages of farmers and raw material producers remain extremely low.
New technology can assist with more honest pricing in several ways: Farmers may enter into transactions with merchants directly and on more favorable terms since blockchain reduces the number of intermediaries. Blockchain improves market transparency, which may be used to exert societal pressure on parties that make excessive profits. This strategy has been demonstrated to be effective in the practice of eco-organizations. Farmers may utilize blockchain-based platforms to organize global trade unions to protect their rights.
All of this will increase farmers’ earnings. This will be a huge help to developing nations, where agriculture employs a major amount of the workforce, and will rescue many people from poverty.
Agriculture production crowdfunding
Agriculture is a high-cost business, with the bulk of transactions taking place swiftly. Farmers in prosperous nations borrow money from banks on more or less favorable terms. A bank loan in the rest of the world can be structured in such a way that a single payment delay can bankrupt the farmer.
The new technology will globalize the lending business, allowing African farmers, for example, to acquire loans under acceptable terms in European frameworks. Furthermore, the blockchain will allow you to create crowdfunding models where ordinary people may assist businesses in other countries. It’s now difficult, hazardous, and riddled with unneeded bureaucratic red tape. Tokenization will solve these problems for crowdfunding.
Uncertainty in output due to weather and insect infestation, high fluctuation in food costs, a prolonged production cycle, and other variables contribute to bad agricultural circumstances, particularly in nations with limited access to low-cost loan capital. As a result, farm insurance is prohibitively expensive and usually impossible to get.
Blockchain, like loans, has the potential to localize the insurance industry, allowing farmers in Latin America, for example, to ensure more favorable terms with European firms.
When you buy a tomato, for example, you have no clue how much and what chemicals were used in its development, how it was stored, whether it has any anomalies in its DNA, or where it grew: in the field, in the greenhouse, or in the basement. Furthermore, you have no notion if this tomato was grown by an American farmer or an almost enslaved third-world labourer.
Thanks to the blockchain, anyone interested in agricultural, animal, or fish production techniques will be able to track the “history” of maize from the store shelf to the seeds from which it started. Alternatively, the “history” of salmon from the freezer to the farm where it was raised. In this situation, you may trace anything from the chemical makeup of fertilizer to DNA.
To track the movement of agricultural products through the supply chain from the farm to the retailer, increasing transparency and improving the efficiency of the supply chain.
Blockchain technology can be used to track the origin, handling, and storage of agricultural products, helping to ensure food safety and reduce the risk of contamination.
Blockchain technology can be used to automate the process of crop insurance, enabling farmers to quickly and easily file claims in the event of crop loss.
Blockchain technology can be used to securely and transparently record land titles, helping to reduce the risk of fraud and improve the efficiency of land registration.
Blockchain technology can be used to track the use of pesticides and herbicides on crops, helping to ensure compliance with regulations and reduce the risk of contamination.
To track the movement of agricultural products through the supply chain, ensuring the integrity and quality of these products. This could include tracking the origin of raw materials, the conditions under which products were transported, and any processing or handling that occurred.
Blockchain-based platforms could be used to track and manage the safety and quality of agricultural products, helping to reduce the risk of foodborne illness and other safety issues.
Blockchain technology could be used to streamline various agricultural processes, such as supply chain management, contract negotiation, and payment processing.
Blockchain technology provides a tamper-proof record of transactions, which could help to build trust and transparency in the agriculture industry. This could include tracking the movement of goods and verifying the authenticity of products.
Blockchain technology could be used to track and verify sustainable practices in the agriculture industry, such as using sustainable farming techniques and sourcing raw materials from environmentally-friendly sources.
This company uses blockchain to trace the origin and journey of beef from the ranch to the consumer, allowing for greater transparency and traceability in the supply chain.
This agriculture company uses blockchain to improve the efficiency and transparency of grain supply chains, including the digitization of contracts and the settlement of payments.
This company uses blockchain to improve the traceability and transparency of the food supply chain, including tracking produce from farm to consumer.
This company uses blockchain to improve the efficiency and transparency of grain supply chains, including the digitization of contracts and the settlement of payments.
This company uses blockchain to improve the traceability and transparency of the food supply chain, including tracking livestock and produce from farm to consumer.
