Kuntal Das, Global Product Development Lead, DECCO Worldwide (UPL Limited)
A good harvest starts with good seeds. High-quality, climate-resilient seeds enhance crop health, value, and income, while low-quality and unavailability compromise farmers’ revenue. Over 25% of India’s seed, pesticide, and fertiliser business is compromised due to an increase in the dissemination of unauthorised, impure seeds, with fraudulent labelling, intellectual property and trademark infringements, regulatory breaches, and proprietary material thefts. According to the International Seed Federation, developed countries restrict this scenario up to 50%-60% on specific crops. Food safety relies on traceability; hence it is vital to develop a comprehensive plan to address these issues. Academics have explored secure resource tracing, including the usage of blockchain technology. Blockchain is made up of blocks that include a sequence of transactions. Except for the genesis block, each block includes the block’s hash/ some stored data, and the hash of the previous block. A block’s hash is unique and may be thought of as its signature or fingerprint. As a result, altering anything in the block will change the entire hash. To link the blocks, the preceding block’s hash is referred to. It is extremely safe since the information entered is encrypted. Blockchain seed traceability offers a secure and efficient way to track seed production, ensuring fair payments, authorized suppliers, and proper compliance. India’s Ministry of Agriculture declared implementation of traceability in 2019 through a software-enabled device that enables farmers to use QR codes to track the purity and quality of seeds. Jharkhand was the first state to use blockchain for seed distribution, partnering with global blockchain technology firm SettleMint. The platform tracks seed distribution from government agencies producing seeds to distributors, retailers, LAMPS/PACS, FPOs, and ultimately to farmers. Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University and Trust-O-One have used blockchain technology in agriculture for seed traceability on Pigeonpea & Safflower.
Advances in agriculture technology and seed traceability enable consumers and agribusinesses to track seed origin, handling, and packaging steps. Trusted certified products are increasingly popular, as customers value education and transparency. Starting with tracking the genealogy of sowed seed to confirm its source, agribusinesses have been able to uphold trust and openness to the wider farming community.
