Blockchain Technology for Modern Agriculture

Speaker Supervisor
Ankita Dr. Shashi Shekhar, Assistant
Professor
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERNG
INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY
VARANASI- 221005
Contents
Introduction to blockchain
Potential application in agriculture
Possible challenge
Block Chain?
• It is decentralized, distributed digital ledger that is used to store information in
the form of blocks.
•Stoshi Nakamoto used this technology to develop a digital crypto currency
“Bitcoin” in 2009.
Working of blockchain
Key Features of blockchain
i) Decentralized Network
ii) Immutability
iii) Direct control over records
iv) Increased security and trust
 Potential of block chain in agriculture
i) Food supply chain
With the emergence of the blockchain, it has become possible to bring trust and transparency and
tracebility in the food supply chain ecosystem, ensuring food safety for everyone.
The IBM Food Trust initiative started with their collaboration with Walmart China and
Tsinghua University, and has grown into a global consortium that includes big names Kroger,
Nestle, Tyson, and Unilever.
Potential of block chain in agriculture
ii) Marketplace Creation

Digital marketplaces allow buyers and growers to connect directly, increasing the
amount of profits that go to the farmers.

Avenews-GT is an Isreali-based company that has created a trading platform

which allows commercial buyers to find the growers who have what they need.
Potential of block chain in agriculture
iii) Agricultural Insurance

Weather extremes threaten agricultural production, putting food security at risk.

Authorized parties can trace the weather conditions from the blockchain ledger, farmers
can quickly get the crop insurance claims through smart contracts.

Hara is an Indonesia-based agriculture-focused data exchange that brings together data

from multiple sources and facilitates data access for banks, insurance companies,
retailers, agriculture input suppliers, NGOs, and government agencies.
Potential of block chain in agriculture
iv) Digitization of land records
•India has land disputes over all the levels of courts, which contains a total of 66% of all
the pending court cases.
•Even if farmers own land it is not recognized as theirs.
•Blockchain is a secured medium through which land records can be maintained.
•In India, Blockchain was first introduced in Andhra Pradesh for land registration, and
they collaborated with Chromway, a Sweden based company followed by state like
Rajasthan.
•Consolidation of land holdings.
Steps towards adopting blockchain in India
• IndiaChain is the government's plan to implement a full-fledged blockchain
infrastructure.
•In its first phase, IndiaChain aims to address the problems facing India’s
agriculture sector pertaining to land records, electricity distribution, soil data etc.
•The development of IndiaChain, is still in its early stages.
•The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT), Eleven 01 (India’s indigeneous blockchain platform) and
KHETINEXT (e-agricultural service provider) have collaborated.
Possible Challenges
• Lack of awareness and understanding
•Lack of cooperation
•further research is required on the transacting parties’ motivation to provide
genuine and precise information to the blockchain ledger.
•obtaining the data uploaded to a blockchain can be very costly, which will be a
barrier to the adoption of blockchain technology in the sector.
•Blockchain is slow
•Still has a long way to go
References
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