This startup is pairing the blockchain with farming

Ripe, a blockchain startup, demonstrates how distributed register technology can be used in agriculture and provides companies with important data about crops and the entire supply chain.

By combining the blockchain system with specially developed scanners and specialized sensors, the company can provide critical data that is easily communicated to partners. This demonstrates why the blockchain is becoming increasingly popular as a tool that can be used as part of the IoT solution.

Blockchain is a key tool for IoT because of how it integrates data storage and communication in a reliable facility. The blockchain system is a general distributed database that acts as a fixed book, records events and checks them with the help of several independent participants. After entering the record, it is marked with a unique code that places it sequentially in the register.

In agriculture, this means that farmers can use sensors and handheld devices to collect data on crops, such as tomatoes, from the seed stage. This information is recorded on the unit and can include important factors such as salt and sugar content, pH levels, as well as identifying factors such as location to associate the record with a particular plant.

From this, farmers can determine when the harvest is ready for harvesting, and can inform customers and partners of the proper time, thanks to the unchanging nature of the blockchain. In addition, by sharing data from the very beginning in the growth process, the farm can give these partners the visibility of the forthcoming availability, which will help those customers reduce the costs associated with finding a particular product.

Blockchain is no longer a sphere exclusively for bankers. Most of the noise around it was focused on its use in finance, where it originated. But one of the most promising trends in the development of the blockchain is the growing destructive presence of the Internet of Things (IoT).