Blockchain-Based Crop Supply Chain and Traceability Using Smart Contracts

Abstract

The agri-food supply chain is a cornerstone of food security and economic stability, yet traditional systems often grapple with challenges such as limited transparency, data manipulation, delayed payments, and an over-reliance on intermediaries.These centralized frameworks hinder the ability to verify the origin, quality, and authenticity of agricultural products, weakening trust among stakeholders.This paper introduces a Blockchain-Based Crop Supply Chain and Traceability System leveraging smart contracts to address these persistent issues.The proposed system employs blockchain technology to establish a decentralized, transparent, and immutable ledger that records every transaction within the supply chain.Key processes are automated through smart contracts, including crop registration, ownership transfers, transaction validations, and payment executions.To manage large-scale data effectively, the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is incorporated for decentralized storage of crop-related documents like images, health reports, and certificates, while cryptographic hashes are stored on the blockchain for verification purposes.A token-based digital payment mechanism linked to the Indian Rupee (INR) ensures fair and instant payments between farmers and buyers.The system is implemented as a decentralized application utilizing React.js,Node.js,Solidity, and MetaMask, and deployed on the Binance Smart Chain Testnet.Experimental findings reveal significant enhancements in traceability, transparency, fraud reduction, and stakeholder trust compared to conventional agri-food supply chain systems.