Blockchain to be used to push farm exports

India‘s natural farming could soon get a technological push through blockchain, as the government plans to use the technology across all export-driven crops to increase the country’s food shipments and incentivise farmers to take up chemical-free processes.

The Niti Aayog has launched a pilot project in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh government on apple farming, to ensure quality production while also monitoring the produce across the entire storage and supply chain.

“Lack of quality produce and traceability has hampered India’s food exports apart from disincentivising growers. Blockchain technology can help bridge this gap,” a senior government official told ET.

“By recording information about products at every stage of the agricultural supply chain, a blockchain helps remove redundant processes, ensure quality control and monitor storage conditions,” the official added.

After the completion of the pilot project on apples, the technology will be replicated across other crops including mangoes, bananas, grapes and pomegranates, besides vegetables.

India ranks second in fruits and vegetable production in the world, after China, but its share in the global fruits and vegetable market is just 1%.

Under the blockchain technology, IoT sensors are used to generate crop data and its storage, distribution of grown crops to the food processing companies, supply of processed food to wholesalers and retailers and its storage. Through this, even consumers can back-trace the supply chain to ensure quality products while buying.
According to the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, India exported fresh fruits and vegetables worth about $1.52 billion in 2021-22, with fruits accounting for $750.7 million and vegetables for $767.01 million.

Exports of processed fruits and vegetables totalled $1.73 billion. These included about $1.12 billion of processed vegetables including pulses and $610.69 million of processed fruits and juices.

Major destinations for India’s fresh fruits and vegetables include Bangladesh, the UAE, Nepal, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the UK, Oman and Qatar.