A Blockchain—IPFS Hybrid Framework for Scalable and Verifiable Agricultural Supply-Chain Traceability

Abstract

Fragmented record-keeping across agricultural distribution networks enables unauthorized modifications, counterfeit products, and provenance erosion as data passes through multiple stakeholder tiers. Although distributed ledgers provide tamper resistance, direct on-chain storage imposes prohibitive costs and throughput constraints for production-scale systems. This paper presents AgriChain, a dual-layer architecture combining Ethereum smart contracts with InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) distributed storage for economically viable farm-to-consumer verification. Transaction fingerprints and cryptographic digests reside on-chain, whereas bulk documentation—quality certifications, logistics records, and environmental sensor data—resides off-chain in IPFS. End consumers validate product authenticity via QR-encoded identifiers that trigger real-time blockchain queries. The implementation employs AES-256 for data confidentiality, JWT tokens for stakeholder authentication, and SHA-256 for cross-layer integrity checks. Deployment on Ethereum Sepolia testnet yielded 42 percent lower transaction fees compared to full on-chain storage, maintained response times below two seconds, and achieved 99.7 percent availability across evaluation trials. Findings demonstrate that strategic partitioning of on-chain and off-chain components enables both auditability and economic feasibility in agricultural traceability infrastructure.