Transformation of Agriculture with Blockchain
Blockchain is a decade-old concept. Yet, blockchain is still struggling to establish itself even with all the speculative financial excitement around it. Blockchain can revolutionize how data is utilized in the agriculture sector while boosting profitability for the stakeholders.
The agriculture sector faces several obstacles: meeting the rising population’s requirements, value chain inconsistency, and information asymmetry. Blockchain can help the industry by increasing supply chain transparency and ensuring farmers receive a fair wage while helping the stakeholders during weather fluctuations.
Blockchain Technology can help in tracing the source of food. It can help source information about the state of farms, inventory, and agricultural agreements, where gathering such data is typically expensive. Blockchain can track and record every stage of a product’s value chain from origin to consumption.
Algiz is a blockchain-based solution focused on simplifying the pre and post-harvest processes. As crops move from inputs to outputs through multiple value-adding phases, data and information flow is captured and distributed to the stakeholders. Different stakeholders generate and manage data based on their requirements and capabilities. In a blockchain, the decentralized consensus mechanism secures the usage and administration of data. Traditional data management methods are centralized and vulnerable to inaccuracies, data distortion, and abuse, as well as cyber-attacks, giving blockchain networks an edge over them.
Blockchain also helps in boosting supply chain transparency and eliminating inefficient practices ensuring that the quality control is optimum and streamlined. For instance, crop failure is a significant issue in the agriculture sector. Due to dire meteorological circumstances such as uneven rainfall and erratic weather, crop failures occur frequently. Algiz has focused on precision technology to address these uncertainties, developing technology that allows farmers to monitor elements that may damage their crops. By linking to a blockchain ledger, the information will be updated in real-time and accessed through an app or web portal. Farmers will take preemptive measures to ensure that all factors are in the best optimum condition.
Farmers will also benefit from increased traceability across the value chain. It will allow them to record and update the status of their crops as they progress through the plantation, harvesting, storage, and delivery processes. These records will also be available to the end-users giving them an insight into their consumption.
Another major problem that farmers face is traditional payment mechanisms. It usually takes weeks for farmers to receive complete payment for their produce, creating a loss of opportunity for the next harvest cycle. The payments can be enabled through smart contracts by automating the trade process through the protocol. Every time a transaction is executed on the protocol, the amount will be credited automatically to the farmer’s/seller’s wallet. Farmers will get paid as soon as the commodities are delivered without losing their revenue in the process.
Data and information become increasingly crucial for the agriculture sector to improve productivity and sustainability. The use of blockchain to enable data-driven solutions can reduce transaction costs, benefit farmers’ access to markets and generate new revenue streams. While blockchain technology is yet to reach perfection, its vast benefits have already been proved from it in such a short period. With proper application, blockchain can completely transform the agriculture sector.
