Many among us wouldn’t have heard about this newly emerging blockchain in agriculture industry. For many, this might be entirely a new concept, while some might be aware of the very fundamentals of the concept. In this article, we are going to shed light on the very basic idea behind the blockchain.
This is a distributed ledger network. So a blockchain is made up of transactions. And the good thing is that a very systematic record of these transactions is maintained over a while to preserve the records for a very long time. A ledger is a document that allows you to put your hand on the pulse of the company and it provides you with irrefutable facts that cannot be denied.
Each transaction is recorded as a block link to the previous entry maintaining a chain relationship in all of the entries. Now the question is that what makes this chain so unique that this ledger is not maintained and kept at only one place. This is rather shared with every single user on his or her computer wherever they are sitting and connected to this network. This record is constantly validated and updated by making a comparison with all other ledgers. Because each node has an updated copy of the ledger, at the same time, it is completely transparent and also traceable as well so that the entire record could be scrutinized at any given time without any hurdle. You can read more about it on Trendytarzan.com.
This might be a very basic concept, yet one can make some conclusions that how based on this we can benefit in the agriculture sector. The factor of traceability and transparency are the key ideas to understand its practical implementation. The farmers in far-flung remote areas are bound to wait for months to sell their products and receive money. This deprives them of many necessities of life. This slowed down process discourages the farmers and further lowers their incomes. The implementation of blockchain would allow for immediate payments to the buyer, produces and seller with the help of agricultural chain supply software. This would allow tracing back the money trail to the farmer in case of the production of some specific food supply. This chain also allows figuring out the quality of the yield for consumers to determine its price. Its implementation may revolutionize the agriculture sector within no time.
By supporting the small scale farmers and cooperatives, a lot of improvement can be brought especially in developing countries. And many initiatives have been taken across the world in this regard.
Another brighter aspect is ensuring food safety and security. As food safety mainly belongs to proper handling, preparing and preserving food. Food safety and security can be increased many times through the traceability factor of blockchain. Many companies across the world are partnering with renowned digital marketing companies for the implementation of blockchain in their agricultural yields. Coca Cola has used blockchain technology to figure out the forced labor in the sugarcane supply chain. Another well-established company Carrefour has made use of this technology to verify the food standards and to trace the food origins that enables them to conduct an authentic categorization of food items.
Despite all of its advantages, this is still practically impossible for many small scale businesses to adopt blockchain as they may lag in expertise and also in finances. This is high time for the governments to take initiative in the adoption of supply chain technology and inculcate a culture where businesses irrespective of their size tend to opt this technology. In the long run, this would leave a very robust and positive impact on the agriculture sector.
