The Application of Blockchain in Agricultural Supply Chain

Since its development, the internet has changed the appearance of most industries and largely enhanced their efficiency while its penetration into the agriculture is still relatively weak. In the viewpoint of EtherFlyer, the root cause is that this technology can solve the asymmetry of information, but cannot guarantee its authenticity and is also hard to trace the source. However, the emergence of blockchain presents a new opportunity to agriculture.

The truth has turned out that agriculture is one of the most potential fields in terms of blockchain's landing and application. Multifarious traditional agriculture is plagued by questions in many aspects. Agricultural trade depends on the relationship between farmers and retailers and the complex supply chains, which makes it hard to make payment and trace product source. With the growing internalization of the demand for agricultural trade, suppliers and entrepreneurs start their trial at blockchain's distributed ledger technology, leading agriculture to a brand new world.

One of the most important advantages for blockchain lies in its transparency. On one hand, blockchain makes it possible for consumers to track the source of retail inventories, guaranteeing they buy safe and quality agricultural products. On the other hand, it can help retailers and agricultural companies track product information and even the origin, thereby preventing defective products from being shelved. Although this technology is in its infancy stage, French retail gaint Carefour has harnessed it to track the information of free-range chickens.

In short, blockchain technology could help establish consumer trust and create a traceable agricultural supply chain.