Convergence of IoT and Blockchain Ecosystem to Ensure Traceability and Reliability in Agricultural Supply Chain

Abstract

The profound growth in the human population over the past two centuries has created a new issue in food security. Due to the high demand for food, there is an increasing burden on the agricultural supply chain (ASC) to satisfy the hunger of every individual. As a result, there is a possibility for spoilt or contaminated food to enter the ASC. If the end-consumer consumes these bad food products, it can lead to food poisoning and even death in certain circumstances. In order to ensure that the food delivered to the consumer is safe, it is necessary to monitor the food product as it passes through the different entities present in the ASC. The traditional ASC lacks traceability and reliability. Traceability is necessary in determining the origin of a crop, while reliability is necessary in preventing foul play by any entity. Therefore, developing a traceable and reliable system for the existing ASC model has become very important. The transparent, decentralized, and immutable qualities of Blockchain, along with the help from IoT devices, will allow us to actively trace the food from farm-to-fork as it passes through the supply chain while maintaining a high reliability between each entity. Thus, this paper proposes a novel ASC model, incorporated using Blockchain and IoT technology, to mitigate the traceability and reliability issues in the ASC.