Cryptocurrency and Blockchain for Farmers

Just like it has affected other industries the blockchain technology is growing and likely to impact agriculture in a big way. This industry offers plenty of opportunities for the technology, being worth almost $2.4 trillion today and involving more than 1 billion people globally. The blockchain is nothing but a public ledger of transactions stored and recorded by all participants; this is reliable data concerning farms, contracts, and inventories in farming. The blockchain will be able to create reliable food supply chains, establish trust between consumers and suppliers. It is expected to introduce smart agriculture and smart contracts that will ensure timely payments for stakeholders.

How can the Blockchain help Farmers?

• One of the biggest advantages of using blockchain for agriculture is improved food quality. It will ensure transparency in the supply chain, remove ineffective processes, and ensure optimal quality controls. For example, to avoid crop failures, companies like IBM have started investing money into what is precision agriculture; they have built IoT devices that let farmers monitor factors impacting crop growth.
• Blockchain increases traceability in supply chains. Consumers of today want to know the source of their foods and the blockchain technology can resolve this problem by informing them about where the food originated, whether it is fresh, and who planted it.
• For farmers, there can be many apps for recording and managing their processes. Blockchain technology will let farmers store all the data relating to their work in a single location that is accessible by others whenever they need it. This simplifies the whole process and saves a lot of energy and time. It helps them keep track of their goals, health problems of animals, varieties of crops planted and how these are performing, employee schedules, income and expenses, etc.
• Farmers can expect to get fairer payments with blockchain technology in use. Wire transfers and traditional payment methods can mean delayed payments and these also take out a chunk from their earnings. But smart contracts will change all of this as payments will be automatically triggered as soon as conditions are met and there will not be any extra charges for transactions. Farmers often face trouble in selling their stuff as there are intermediaries who eat into their profits. With smart contracts there will no longer be any need for such middlemen.
• Farmers often have to face unpredictable weather crisis when they try to grow different kinds of crops. So, predicting and controlling adverse weather conditions is the key to survival of crops. The blockchain is immutable and transparent; so stakeholders and farmers can know price differences in the market. As authorized parties will be able to track weather conditions from a ledger, farmers can now get crop insurance claims faster through smart contracts.

• Smart agriculture will allow farmers to gauge crop behavior by deploying mapping fields and sensors. Weather stations inside farms can then give critical data about temperature, humidity, soil temperature, wind speed, rainfall, wind direction, etc. All data are measured and stored in the blockchain for farmers to access them any time.
• Farmers can also take preventive actions by analyzing data from such weather stations. If they fear damages because of a crisis, they can apply for insurance claims through the blockchain. Once these are approved, farmers will receive their requested amounts automatically.
• The blockchain will also help farmers to handle their finances better. They have faced problems like credit history, lack of transparency, and contract enforcement issues over the years. Now, the blockchain introduces fairness in agricultural finance because of transparency. Stakeholders can share data every step in food production and auditors can conduct audits effectively.