![\"Sustainable](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sustainable-Agriculture.jpg\")
<\/div>\n\t\t\tDemand for information about food<\/b> The human population continues growing, as does consumers\u2019 demand for digital services targeted at their needs. Farmers and agribusinesses should consider introducing blockchain technology in agriculture<\/a> and farm management software<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to improve the financial performance of farmland and meet the demand for food of a growing population.<\/p>\n The agricultural sector needs to undergo technological transformation to:<\/b><\/p>\n Learn how multinational agricultural corporations establish their R&D labs to create, test, and validate technologies for sustainable farming<\/p>\n Agricultural technologies like precision farming<\/a>, mapping of farmlands<\/a>,\u00a0IoT sensors, vertical farming systems<\/a>, location intelligence, and\u00a0crop management software<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2014 in addition to transportation technologies<\/a> \u2014 are empowering agricultural businesses to achieve better outcomes in terms of food production and the entire supply chain management in agriculture. An increased demand for food brings new issues with it, such as counterfeit products that threaten food supply chains at different stages. Lack of transparency and low efficiency put farmers and consumers at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n Ultimately, blockchain farming and distributed ledger technology (DLT) have the potential to increase efficiency<\/a>, transparency, and trust throughout agricultural supply chains. Blockchain for agriculture supply chain<\/a> can empower all market players by building relationships of trust.<\/p>\n The blockchain for supply chain can transform the agricultural industry by:<\/b><\/p>\n What are the benefits of blockchain in agriculture supply chain?<\/b> Supply chain management in agriculture is more complex than other supply chains, as agricultural production depends on factors like weather, pests, and diseases that are hard to predict and control. The lack of traceability in the agricultural supply chain leads to slower financial transactions and often intensive manual work. In addition, counterfeits may appear at each stage of the supply chain and bring dangerous consequences to all business stakeholders, governments, and consumers.<\/p>\n Negative impact of counterfeits in agriculture<\/b> Supply chain blockchain services<\/a> and initiatives can mitigate the risk of counterfeits and increase the efficiency of blockchain-based agriculture by providing transparency and eliminating intermediate links in the agricultural value chain. In addition, by reducing uncertainty and enabling trust among market players, distributed ledgers and smart contracts provide a real opportunity for more inclusive market participation among smallholders and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).<\/p>\n The basic challenge of agricultural supply chains lies in the transportation of products. While transaction data can be traced by the cryptographic fingerprint attached to each transaction, the movement of a physical product along a supply chain from farm to consumer requires a much more immutable product\u2013process link. Several well-known technologies exist to establish this link.<\/p>\n Technologies to trace physical products along the agricultural supply chain:<\/b><\/p>\n How does precision mapping technology empower agribusinesses to flourish?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a typical supply chain of crops<\/a> and elaborate on the potential of agriculture\u00a0supply chain management software at each stage. The growing demand for traceability of food origins is bringing high potential for QR codes on consumer products. Consumers can scan codes on packaging to know the exact location where a product was grown or raised and see other information about the product\u2019s life cycle up to the store shelf.<\/p>\n The supply chain starts with a supplier of seeds, eggs, or any other agri-food input who registers their products in a digital ledger by filling out information on product quality, pesticides used, sanitation, and transportation. After this initial data has been submitted, the DLT network will trace, verify, and record this data throughout the supply chain. The DLT will also update product data with information on the time of expiration, transit conditions, and relevant export\/import certifications. The chart below shows the use of blockchain for agriculture supply chain.<\/p>\n Supply chain management in agriculture with distributed ledger technology<\/b> According to the United Nations<\/a>, counterfeit food costs the global economy nearly $40 billion per year. Research by MarketsandMarkets<\/a> reveals that with implemented blockchain, agriculture supply chain generated $60.8 million in market value in 2018 and is predicted to generate $429.7 million in value by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 47.8% during the projected period. Blockchain technology in agriculture market like distributed ledgers and smart contracts have the ability to weed out counterfeits in agri-food production and supply chains, handing healthier products to consumers, generating trust between business players, and enabling a better life at a global scale.<\/p>\n Through deep research and real-life testing of ways to apply the blockchain to the agri-food industry, businesses can start recognizing the most beneficial blockchain use cases to improve the agricultural supply chain. So, how can blockchain help farmers?<\/p>\n The use of blockchain has the same chances to become as beneficial as the use of the IoT in agriculture<\/span><\/a>. The blockchain can provide an efficient and reliable solution to the urgent need for product traceability and controlling supply chain. By recording information about products at every stage of the agricultural supply chain, a blockchain helps to remove redundant processes, ensure quality control, and monitor storage conditions. Agricultural companies already monitor crops with smart IoT devices, and the application of distributed ledger technology will reinforce sensing technology by recording and verifying all data.<\/p>\n Self-executing smart insurance contracts<\/a> built on distributed ledger technology will provide better insurance programs for private farmers, agricultural holdings, and all actors in the supply chain. Smart contracts will eliminate the human factor from assessing insurance claims, making the claim process simpler, faster, and more transparent. Smart contracts will also minimize the risks of false claims and corruption among insurance providers, as no actor will be able to alter insurance policies once they\u2019re agreed upon.<\/p>\n How to implement smart contracts for insurance \u2013 vehicle insurance use case Agricultural finances<\/p>\n The blockchain can bring transparency to agricultural financial transactions, credit history, and financial agreements for smallholders who want to invest in farming. Shared access and irreversible agreements will allow smaller farmers to pay for raw materials and machinery partially or after delivery and guarantee fair market pricing.<\/p>\n Climate change and unpredictable weather<\/a> influence agriculture more than other industries. In addition to taking responsibility for our planet\u2019s future, agribusinesses have to follow requirements of various environmental initiatives like climate or green bonds<\/a>. Companies are facing more and more obligations for monitoring, verifying, and reporting according to sustainability requirements to prove their climate friendly farming practices to investors to keep their businesses running.<\/p>\n More ways of how can blockchain help farmers:<\/b><\/p>\n Agriculture supply chain management software based on blockchain and related technologies like IoT, RFID, NFC, and QR codes can bring benefits<\/a> related to automation, productivity, and transparency depending on the type of goods produced by agribusinesses.<\/p>\n Goals that can be achieved by applying the blockchain to different agricultural products<\/b> Discover new ways to predict the weather and prevent natural disasters using the powers of GIS technology<\/p>\n The blockchain continues to draw attention across industries. This technology promises to change the way we conduct our daily routines and run our businesses.<\/p>\n Feasibility of blockchain by industry<\/b>
\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Demand-for-information-about-food.jpg\")
\nSource: Consumer Preferences for Traceable Food<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/What-does-the-blockchain-bring-to-agricultural-supply-chains.jpg\")
<\/p>\nChallenges of implementing blockchain technology in agriculture and steps to overcome them<\/h2>\n
\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Negative-impact-of-counterfeits-in-agriculture.jpg\")
\nSource: Counterfeiting in African Agriculture Inputs \u2013 Challenges & Solutions<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n
The biggest potential for blockchain technology in agriculture market<\/h2>\n
\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Agricultural-supply-chain-based-on-distributed-ledger-technology.jpg\")
<\/p>\nUse cases of the blockchain in agriculture supply chain<\/h2>\n
Food safety<\/h3>\n
Agricultural insurance<\/h3>\n
Environmental sustainability<\/h3>\n
\n
\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Goals-that-can-be-achieved-by-applying-the-blockchain-to-different-agricultural-products.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLessons learned from other industries and blockchain mistakes to avoid<\/h2>\n
\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/intellias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Feasibility-of-blockchain-by-industry.jpg\")
\nSource: McKinsey Digital<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n