Industrial supply chains involve multiple stakeholders, complex logistics operations, and financial transactions that require transparency, traceability, and secure coordination.Traditional supply chain systems suffer from limited transparency, the risk of data manipulation, and insufficient trust among participants.To address these challenges, this paper proposes a decentralized industrial supply chain management system implemented on an Ethereum-compatible blockchain network.The proposed architecture integrates smart contracts to automate workflows, including stakeholder registration and verification, multi-item order processing, shipment tracking, simulated delivery verification (SDV), and escrow-based conditional payment settlement.The system adopts a hybrid on-chain/off-chain storage architecture in which transactional records are maintained on-chain, while raw material and product images are stored off-chain using the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS).This design reduces blockchain storage overhead while preserving data integrity through cryptographic hash references.To improve operational efficiency and reduce overhead from repeated transactions, the proposed system supports multi-item batch transactions during procurement and ordering, while the logistics and settlement stages maintain per-item execution to preserve traceability and accountability.Experimental evaluation was conducted on the Celo Sepolia network to measure gas consumption and transaction fees for both batch-based and functionally equivalent per-item execution workflows under controlled conditions.The evaluation included multiple predefined workload configurations, and statistical analysis using mean and standard deviation was performed to assess execution stability.The results indicate that transaction aggregation reduces gas consumption by approximately 40-43% for raw material order creation and by 40-48% for raw material operations (addToMultipleCart).Product aggregation workflows also demonstrated measurable gas-efficiency improvements.These findings demonstrate the efficiency benefits of multi-item transaction aggregation within the proposed implementation while preserving lifecycle traceability and escrow-enabled settlement correctness.The reported results represent controlled implementation-level efficiency measurements within the proposed blockchain-based supply chain architecture.
Md. Safaet Hossain, Mohammad Shakibul Hasan Sakib, Md. Rayhan Ahmed Shis, Sakib Ahmed · 5 authors
Modern food supply chains, particularly those involving essential commodities like rice, often suffer from major challenges such as product fraud, inefficient record-keeping, and a lack of consumer trust. Traditional centralized systems are prone to data tampering, limited transparency, and poor traceability, making it difficult to verify the authenticity and origin of goods. To address these issues, our research introduces TraceRoot, a blockchain-based traceability framework designed to enhance transparency, accountability, and trust in agricultural supply chains.TraceRoot leverages the immutability and decentralization of blockchain technology to maintain a secure, distributed ledger that records every transaction and movement of goods across the supply chain. Each stakeholder including farmers, distributors, retailers, and consumers has role-based access to authenticated data through a user-friendly interface. The framework integrates smart contracts to automate transactions and digital signatures to verify the integrity of the data being uploaded, minimizing the risk of human error or manipulation
Deepak Gupta, Temur Eshchanov, Jabbarov Umarbek, Berdiyev Anvar Abduraxmanovich · 6 authors
The global halal industry faces critical challenges in ensuring product authenticity, supply chain transparency, and consumer trust. This chapter examines the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in revolutionizing halal product verification and market analysis. Through comprehensive analysis of machine learning, computer vision, blockchain integration, and advanced analytical techniques, we explore how AI-driven solutions address authentication challenges, detect adulteration, and enhance traceability across halal supply chains. The chapter synthesizes current research on deep learning applications for food fraud detection, spectroscopic analysis coupled with chemometrics, DNA barcoding for species identification, and distributed ledger technologies for certification management. We present frameworks for implementing AI-powered verification systems, discuss technological barriers and opportunities, and propose strategic recommendations for stakeholders.
The global dairy industry confronts a persistent structural challenge in operationalising food safety and animal welfare compliance. Manual inspection regimes and intermittent audits are demonstrably inadequate for the heterogeneous, geographically dispersed landscape of small-scale farming, where data integrity, real-time monitoring capability, and regulatory transparency are simultaneously compromised. This article presents GreenDairyChain, an integrated compliance innovation framework that synthesises four enabling technologies: GreenEdgeML (a lightweight TinyML inference engine optimised for microcontroller-class devices), Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning (FL) with Graph Attention Network (GAT)-based dynamic clustering, Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (ZK-SNARKs) for cryptographic compliance verification, and a Layer-2 Polygon zkEVM Blockchain with domain-specific smart contracts governing farm identity, violation detection, audit triggers, and licence management. GreenEdgeML executes multimodal sensor fusion across four signal modalities (body temperature, accelerometer activity, ammonia concentration, and milk pH) entirely on-device using 8-bit integer quantisation, consuming 64.6 KB RAM and 82.7 mW per inference cycle on the ESP32 platform. The FL engine employs GAT-based farm clustering with DBSCAN outlier exclusion to address non-IID data heterogeneity while maintaining Byzantine fault resilience. Compliance inferences are encoded as R1CS arithmetic circuits (14,240 constraints) and verified on-chain at O(1) cost through ZK-SNARK proofs generated in 1.25 seconds. Evaluated on the Shahhet28121 benchmark dataset across 16 biomarkers, the full system achieves 96.94% global classification accuracy, a 97.7% reduction in per-round communication payload (4.25 KB), and maintains classification accuracy above 90% under 20% Gaussian sensor noise. Ablation experiments confirm that each architectural component contributes independently to system performance. The findings carry implications for green business innovation, sustainable agriculture governance, and the design of trustworthy AI ecosystems in resource-constrained rural contexts.
Healthcare supply chains face increasing challenges related to counterfeit products, fragmented information flows, limited traceability, and insufficient coordination among distributed stakeholders.Existing centralized and partially decentralized approaches still encounter difficulties in maintaining immutable records, real-time verification, and trusted operational transparency across the pharmaceutical distribution process.This study investigates a distributed medical supply chain framework that improves traceability, compliance control, and operational reliability in healthcare logistics.A blockchain-enabled architecture was developed by integrating dynamic quick response (QR)-based identification, customizable smart contracts, and a hybrid consensus mechanism combining Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS).The framework assigned a unique cryptographic identity to each medicine unit and supported end-to-end verification through blockchain-linked QR validation.Smart contracts were designed to automate ownership transfer, compliance checking, and counterfeit detection throughout the supply chain workflow.The framework was implemented and evaluated in a simulated distributed environment using pharmaceutical transaction scenarios.The experimental results showed that the proposed approach achieved average validation accuracy of approximately 98.1%, maintained transaction throughput between 150 and 320 transactions per second (TPS), and reduced consensus delay through adaptive PoW-PoS coordination.The system also demonstrated strong resistance to forgery attempts and stable operational performance across repeated validation experiments.The results indicate that integrating blockchain governance mechanisms with QR-enabled authentication can improve transparency, trust, and traceability in distributed healthcare supply chains.The proposed framework provides a scalable systems engineering solution for pharmaceutical logistics management and offers a practical foundation for compliance-oriented digital transformation in healthcare supply networks.
Blockchain has been recognized as a promising technology to improve transparency, authenticity and efficiency in supply chain (SC) traceability for food, pharmaceuticals, textiles etc. It is observed that recent literature have extensively studied blockchain based traceability systems in the domains, level of implementation maturity, technical architecture and sustainability dimensions. There have been experimental models to demonstrate that a practical, inexpensive and scalable blockchain has not yet been fulfilled. In textile and garment, numerous blockchain frameworks consider problems of information asymmetry and low visibility by providing secure sharing of data, smart contract based validation procedure, and transparent tracking (e.g., organic cotton supply chain). Decentralized types such as Hyperledger Fabric provide greater integrity, quality assurance and process traceability over traditional centralized models within the Agri-Food sector. Other possible works address enhancing efficiency, for which a parallel record-search is proposed by developing multi-chunk replication and maximum matching algorithms to lower time overhead by more than 85%. On the whole, the blockchain is promising but needs to be practically validated on a large scale.
The rapid digitalization of agriculture has significantly improved operational efficiency, precision farming, and supply chain transparency. Traditional centralized information systems can face problems in offering enough security, traceability, and trust in complicated multi-stakeholder agricultural supply chains. This paper explores the possibility of blockchain as a cybersecurity architecture to provide data integrity and secure transactions in agricultural applications. A qualitative research method and structured analysis of 47 scholarly papers and four real-world blockchain deployments (IBM Food Trust, AgriDigital, TE-FOOD, and Ambrosus) are used in the study. The results show that blockchain technology can substantially improve the security and transparency of agricultural value chains through various mechanisms such as distributed ledger, consensus validation, smart contracts, decentralized identity management, and role-based access control. By leveraging case studies, it is evident that traceability has improved significantly, fraud prevention has increased, auditability has been enhanced, and transaction security has been bolstered; in some deployments, traceability time is in the order of seconds rather than days. Various mitigation measures such as IoT data attestation, HSMs, consortium governance models and harmonising policies are explored. The study concludes that blockchain technology offers a strong and durable cybersecurity infrastructure for the modern agricultural ecosystem by providing a platform for transparent and trusted data sharing, tamper-resistant data recording, and safe digital transactions throughout the supply chain.Keywords—Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Agricultural Supply Chain, Data Integrity, Smart Contracts, Distributed Ledger Technology, Food Traceability, IoT Security, Secure Transactions, Consortium Blockchain.DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.24321/3051.4304.202605 How to cite this article:Afroz M, Vishnu D, Alam I, Lamkuche H S, Patheja P S, Blockchain for Cybersecurity: Ensuring Data Integrity and Secure Transactions in the Agricultural Industry and Supply Chain Management. J Adv Res Comp Tech Soft Appl 2026; 10(2): 26-32. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.24321/3051.4304.202605
In an era where ethical innovation and sustainability are pivotal, traceability, traditionally aimed at ensuring food safety and market protection, has been driving policies of major world powers in the food industry and beyond, such as the European Union, the United States, and China. This evolution aligns with the dual pressures of consumer demand for transparency and the need for sustainable practices. In such a framework, the integration of IP rights, through trademarks and geographical indications, into traceability systems can be instrumental in building consumer trust and protecting the unique value of local and sustainably produced foods. Along with, or in addition to IP rights, “Regulatory Technology,” or RegTech, for example through distributed ledger technologies like blockchain, can provide an effective tool to ensure traceability, enhance the efficiency and transparency of the food supply chain, and promote the right to adequate food and sustainability.
Abstract Food security and the stakeholders’ trust are essential to ensure that agricultural supply chains are transparent and secure. This research presents a Queueing-Assisted Blockchain Smart Contract (QABSC) framework to enhance end-to-end traceability in the millet supply chain. The framework incorporates fog computing into real-time data processing to reduce latency and optimizes transaction flow using queueing techniques, thereby ensuring an efficient and scalable blockchain supply chain platform. The Internet of Vehicles and Things (IoVT) connects cars, sensors, roadside infrastructure, and cloud and edge technologies to make transportation and mobility smarter. By integrating fog-layer intelligence with blockchain-based immutable record-keeping, Internet of Vehicles and Things enabled sensing and vehicular logistics, and end-to-end visibility, the proposed system may ensure tamper-resistant monitoring of millet products from farms to customers. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors collect real-time information about millet quality and storage conditions. This data is securely stored using the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and verified by smart contracts on a distributed ledger. This approach ensures automated compliance verification for auditors and regulators, immutable data storage, and conditional privacy. The proposed model reduces bottlenecks in blockchain transaction processing and enhances efficiency, privacy, data integrity, and trust among producers, distributors, retailers, farmers, and buyers. The proposed model is evaluated based on key performance metrics. The experimental evaluations of the proposed framework demonstrate enhanced throughput, improved transparency, reduced computational overhead, and robust security. This research focuses on a unique integration of smart contracts, queueing theory, IPFS, Fog Computing, IoT devices, and blockchain technology to promote sustainable and transparent millet supply chain management.
ABSTRACT Globalization, multi‐tier supplier networks and demands for transparency and accountability have made supply chain management more complex than ever. Traditional supply chain systems are often characterized by limited visibility, fragmented data sharing, and security vulnerabilities leading to inefficiency and distrust. Collaboration between IoT and Blockchain to Enhance Supply Chain Operations Imagine having products that can be tracked in real time, data being stored securely through distributed ledgers, and transactions performed automatically using smart contracts. The Internet of Things gathers data throughout all the phases in supply chain life and blockchain technology guarantees that it is authentic and also unchangeable. This innovative solution exhibits significant advancements in transparency, security, and operational efficiency when compared with existing supply chain approaches. These results confirm that supply chain systems powered by blockchain technology can improve transaction speed, traceability and integration, while minimizing operational risk. Thus, this work provides a dependably transferable and scalable method to increasing supply chain traceability and efficiency.
Rouwaida Abdallah, Guillermo Toyos Marfurt, Sara Tucci-Piergiovanni
This work has been accepted for publication in the proceedings of 3SCEA 2026 conference. The deposited manuscript corresponds to the author-accepted version presented at the conference. The final published version will appear in the official conference proceedings. Abstract: Traceability remains a critical challenge in modern supply chains, particularly as industries transition towards sustainability and circular economy models. The Digital Product Passport (DPP) emerges as a vital tool to consolidate and share comprehensive product information across its lifecycle. In this paper, we propose a decentralized, customizable, and self-deployable DPP system, leveraging blockchain technology and an extension of the Fractional Non-Fungible Token (F-NFT) model. This approach enables fine-grained traceability of individual product components and events across the supply chain, ensuring transparency and verifiability. A key strength of our system lies in its flexibility, enabling businesses to deploy tailored solutions without reliance on centralized service providers. The proposed system empowers stakeholders with greater control over product data while supporting selective information sharing. We present a functional implementation of the system and discuss the crucial design decisions that support its real-world applicability.
The integration of smart contracts is transforming logistics and supply chain management (LSCM) by improving transparency, visibility, and accountability. This study examines how automated digital agreements and secure nutritional labeling enhance credibility and safety in the food industry. Using encrypted ledgers and records, smart contracts help address challenges such as counterfeit products, fraudulent labeling, and ethical violations. The study aimed to evaluate smart contracts as a strategic tool for managing information throughout a food product’s lifecycle, with emphasis on sustainability and ethical LSCM practices. A quantitative methodology was used, collecting survey data from 130 urban consumers in India who shop both online and offline. The survey captured consumer views on ethical consumption, organic versus processed foods, eco-friendly packaging, and pricing transparency. Findings show that although smart contracts are still emerging in the food sector, they can address major systemic issues. By defining accountability measures, these contracts can align societal well-being with industrial efficiency. This paper contributes to supply chain management research by highlighting the shift toward distributed information systems and emphasizing the importance of smart contracts in creating a transparent, ethical, and safe food supply chain for modern consumers.
Sidhardh G S, M Nandhana Sunil, Rishika Swapna Nair, Shanu Sudhakaran · 5 authors
Ensuring the authenticity and safety of food products has become a major global concern due to increasing cases of food fraud, mislabelling, and contamination. Traditional traceability systems are often centralized, lack transparency, and are vulnerable to data tampering, making it difficult to accurately track product origin and movement. To address these issues, this project proposes a blockchain-based food origin traceability system that uses smart contracts and a distributed ledger to securely record product information at every stage of the supply chain. Stakeholders record key data such as origin, processing, and transportation details, ensuring transparency, immutability, and reliable verification. The system also incorporates allergen traceability and quality verification mechanisms to enhance product safety. By improving transparency, reducing fraud, enabling faster recalls, and supporting regulatory compliance, the system provides a scalable solution for food safety and traceability while promoting better coordination, reducing dependency on intermediaries, and supporting informed decision-making across the supply chain.
Abstract This research presents a comprehensive blockchain-based solution for supply chain traceability. The system ensures secure, immutable, and transparent tracking of products from origin to delivery. Unlike conventional centralized systems, the proposed model leverages distributed ledger technology to eliminate data tampering and improve stakeholder trust. Smart contracts automate validation, reduce delays, and enhance operational efficiency. The framework demonstrates scalability and applicability across industries including manufacturing, food, and pharmaceuticals. Keywords: Blockchain, Supply Chain, Traceability, Hyperledger Fabric, Smart Contracts, Transparency
This study develops a cost-effective digital traceability framework for bioethanol supply chains, addressing compliance challenges faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under the Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) and Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. A hybrid Blockchain–Artificial Intelligence (AI)–Internet of Things (IoT) architecture minimizes energy consumption through an optimized Proof-of-Stake and Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus mechanism. The research integrates a 200-stakeholder international survey, controlled blockchain simulations, smart-contract benchmarking, and Monte Carlo financial modeling. Performance evaluation in a controlled simulation environment demonstrated 1960 transactions per second with sub-second finality, 12-million-gas savings through contract optimization, and compliance latency below 2.1 s. Economic analysis yielded a mean return on investment of 20%, five-year net present value of approximately USD 71,000, and payback within five years in 50% of scenarios. All results derive from reproducible simulations and anonymized data, providing an upper-bound performance envelope prior to field deployment and positioning the framework within emerging hybrid blockchain–AI–IoT monitoring, reporting, and verification systems by explicitly addressing cost realism, readiness heterogeneity, and disruption resilience for SMEs. The framework offers a scalable, energy-efficient pathway for digital compliance in sustainable fuel certification. • Hybrid Blockchain-AI-IoT framework reduces bioethanol certification energy consumption by >99.999% at 1960 TPS • Gas-optimized smart contracts cut computational costs by 57% vs. traditional Proof-of-Work systems. • Economic modeling confirms SME viability: 20% ROI, USD 71,400 NPV, payback within 5 years in 49% of scenarios. • Framework enables RED II and CORSIA compliance with real-time emission verification in renewable fuel supply chains. • International validation across 200 stakeholders in Africa, Asia, EU, and North America demonstrating global scalability.
This paper explores contemporary blockchain applications in the supply chain and logistics sector, focusing on how distributed ledger technology enhances transparency, traceability, security, and operational efficiency across complex global supply networks. The study reviews key blockchain concepts, including consensus mechanisms, smart contracts, and tokenization, and examines their role in improving coordination among stakeholders. Real-world case studies from organizations such as Walmart, Nestlé, Pfizer, Moderna, and Maersk demonstrate practical implementations of blockchain for product traceability, anti-counterfeiting, and shipment tracking. The paper also analyzes major challenges facing blockchain adoption, including scalability limitations, regulatory uncertainty, interoperability issues, and data reliability concerns. Furthermore, it highlights emerging trends such as integration with artificial intelligence, Internet of Things technologies, digital twins, sustainability tracking, and cross-chain platforms. The findings suggest that blockchain plays a critical role in supporting digital transformation initiatives aligned with Industry 4.0 and enables the development of more resilient, transparent, and trustworthy supply chain ecosystems.
By making smart farming and precision agriculture truly revolutionary, the intersection of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) and blockchain technology has enabled safe, transparent, and intelligent systems of food production. The major problem in this field is to provide a credible authentication of heterogeneous devices, sensors, and stakeholders and guarantee the integrity and privacy of data. The chapter discusses how blockchain can be implemented together with decentralized identity (DID) systems to provide strong, unaltered authentication systems to AIoT-based agricultural ecosystems. The given approach helps to remove single points of failure, increase accountability, and allow farmers to have a better opportunity to control the ownership and sharing of data by leveraging the distributed ledger technology. Centralized identity promotes cross-agricultural device interoperability, stakeholders in the supply chain, and service providers. The chapter offers a conceptual framework, explains the implementation issues of scalability and energy efficiency.
Shereen Ismail, Bashar Othman, Hassan Reza, Eden Teshome Hunde
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities have become one of the most critical challenges facing the global fish industry, particularly in developing countries, with the economic impact of fish fraud reaching billions of dollars annually. A major contributor to this problem is the limitation of conventional fish supply chain systems, which lack secure data sharing among stakeholders, fail to provide trusted product information to consumers, and offer insufficient transparency for regulatory authorities. These shortcomings facilitate fraud and weaken trust and oversight across the supply chain. Blockchain technology has demonstrated strong capability to address key cybersecurity challenges by enhancing traceability, transparency, and tamper-resistant data integrity across distributed supply chain stakeholders. In this paper, we present an enterprise-oriented prototype of a secure, permissioned blockchain-based fish supply chain system designed to enable trusted data sharing and end-to-end traceability across multi-stakeholder environments. Building upon our prior work in Ethereum-based seafood quality monitoring, this study contributes: (1) a modular, consortium-grade architecture implemented using Hyperledger Fabric and containerized via Docker, supporting scalable organizational participation; (2) formal UML-based system modeling of supply chain actors, assets, and lifecycle transitions; and (3) custom chaincode logic that enforces ownership transfer workflows and regulatory compliance policies. In addition, the architecture is designed as agent-ready, exposing standardized APIs that enable future integration of autonomous AI-driven client applications for proactive supply chain orchestration. By leveraging a private, permissioned network model, the functional prototype demonstrates the feasibility of improving data veracity and providing a practical foundation for mitigating fraud and enhancing regulatory oversight in the global fish industry.
Counterfeit products pose a serious threat to global supply chains, resulting in economic losses, brand reputation damage, and consumer safety risks. Traditional centralized authentication systems are vulnerable to data tampering, lack transparency, and fail to provide end-to-end traceability. This paper proposes a blockchain-based product authentication framework that ensures secure, transparent, and tamper-proof tracking of products across the supply chain. The system integrates QR-code tagging, smart contracts, distributed ledger technology, and decentralized verification mechanisms to prevent counterfeit infiltration. Experimental evaluation demonstrates improved traceability accuracy, reduced verification time, and enhanced trust among stakeholders compared to conventional centralized databases. The proposed framework provides a scalable and secure solution for real-time product verification and counterfeit elimination.
The agri-food sector is an essential pillar of economies worldwide, playing a vital role in food security and safety, as well as the livelihoods of millions. However, it continues to tackle recurrent issues such as supply chain inefficiencies, lack of transparency, and simple food fraud. Smart contracts, a form of blockchain technology capable of executing programmable agreements between parties, are a promising remedy for these challenges. A smart contract is basically software that has contractual rules written into it. This chapter lays the foundation for smart contracts operating on a blockchain-based architecture, explains how they differ from regular contracts, and outlines the features that make them unique. In agribusiness, platforms like Ethereum and Hyperledger serve a crucial role in the implementation of smart contracts. Key applications include improving traceability, automating supplier-buyer interactions, and strengthening food safety and quality control. Real-world implementations illustrate their effectiveness in preventing fraud and ensuring compliance with industry standards. Despite their potential, the adoption of smart contracts in agribusiness is influenced by various factors, as analysed through Rogers' diffusion of innovation framework. Comparative advantage, compatibility, and complexity play pivotal roles in determining adoption rates. Case studies showcase successful implementations while shedding light on adoption challenges. Barriers to widespread use include technological constraints, regulatory uncertainties, infrastructure costs, and knowledge gaps, particularly among small-scale farmers. Additionally, data security and privacy concerns remain significant obstacles. Addressing these challenges is essential for harnessing the full potential of smart contracts in agribusiness. This chapter provides insights into overcoming these hurdles and fostering a more transparent and efficient agri-food ecosystem.
T. Mohana, P. Bhanuchand, R Meghanadh, CH . Yashwanth · 5 authors
Abstract - The rapid expansion of global supply chains has intensified the prevalence of counterfeit products, posing significant risks to consumer safety and brand credibility. Conventional identification mechanisms, including QR codes and RFID systems, suffer from vulnerabilities such as duplication, limited transparency, and high implementation costs. This paper presents a decentralized architecture leveraging blockchain technology integrated with cryptographic verification techniques to ensure secure product authentication and traceability. The proposed system records each transaction within an immutable distributed ledger, enabling transparent and tamper-resistant data management. Smart contracts facilitate automated validation of product information across different supply chain stages, from manufacturing to end-user verification. Additionally, QR code integration provides a user-friendly interface for authenticity checks. Experimental analysis demonstrates enhanced reliability, improved transparency, and effective counterfeit detection compared to traditional approaches. The framework offers a scalable and trustworthy solution for securing modern supply chain ecosystems against fraudulent activities. Key Words: Blockchain, Counterfeit Detection, Supply Chain Security, Cryptographic Verification, Smart, Contracts, Decentralized Architecture, Product Traceability, QR Code Authentication, Distributed, Ledger Technology
Huda M. Elmatsani, Arief Sartono, S. Joni Munarso, Sari Intan Kailaku · 14 authors
Background Agricultural supply chains are characterized by high transaction costs and agency risks stemming from information asymmetry and biological variability. Although blockchain is widely proposed as a solution, existing literature predominantly focuses on passive traceability rather than active algorithmic governance. Methods This study conducts a bibliometric synthesis of 367 documents (2018–2025) to map the field’s intellectual structure and research orientation. Co-occurrence analysis was employed to reveal distinct thematic clusters and identify the evolution of technological infrastructure in the sector. Results The analysis reveals a critical volume-impact paradox within the technological infrastructure group and a 16:1 asymmetry between traceability and automation research. This indicates a significant gap in leveraging smart contracts for economic enforcement and active supply chain management. Conclusion We propose the Agri-Cognito framework, a prescriptive architecture designed to bridge the cognitive void through AI-driven pre-consensus validation. The framework provides a theoretical blueprint for transitioning agricultural blockchains from passive digital logbooks to autonomous governance ecosystems, offering a direct response to the “oracle problem” and structural inefficiencies in current implementations.
Abstract Decentralized Web Applications (dApps) built on blockchain, Web3 technologies, and the Inter- Planetary File System (IPFS) are emerging as a promising solution to longstanding challenges in agriculture. Conventional centralized systems often result in opaque supply chains, data tampering, fraud, and limited empowerment of smallholder farmers. This systematic review identifies and analyzes 12 representative studies published between 2017 and 2025, selected via a structured search across IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Google Scholar using a defined inclusion and exclusion protocol. Studies are examined with particular emphasis on supply-chain traceability, IoT-enabled smart farming, parametric crop insurance, direct farmer-to-buyer marketplaces, and secure farm-data management. Most implementations leverage Ethereum smart contracts or Hyperledger Fabric, integrate IoT sensors for real-time monitoring, and employ IPFS for off-chain storage of large files such as sensor readings and images. Key benefits include immutable records that prevent tampering, end-to-end traceability for rapid identification of contaminated produce, automatic smart-contract payments, and trust-building without intermediaries. Notable examples are the Walmart-IBM blockchain pilot for mango and pork traceability and platforms such as Etherisc and Arbol for parametric crop insurance. However, challenges remain, including high gas fees and slow transaction speeds on public blockchains, high energy consumption, interoperability issues, data privacy concerns, and limited digital infrastructure among smallholders in regions such as India. This review synthesizes findings across four core application areas—data storage, supply-chain tracking, smart-contract automation, and security/trust—and identifies six open research gaps. It concludes that dApps have strong potential to make agriculture more transparent, equitable, and sustainable, provided that scalability, usability, and regulatory barriers are addressed.