Abstract:

Traceability of agricultural products involves tracking such products in a positive, reverse, or non-directional manner. That traceability covers all processes: from planting and production, logistics and transport, warehousing and sales through to consumer terminals; it does so by means of special information collection equipment, intelligent information-control systems, and information sharing. In that way, consumers are able to obtain the information they need. Given the occurrence of increasing numbers of food safety incidents and improvement of people’s material living standards over recent years in China, citizens’ demands for the quality and safety of agricultural products have grown. The traditional traceability system of agricultural products has exposed ever-greater problems. However, meeting consumer needs has also become increasingly difficult. Thus, it is necessary to establish a set of transparent guidelines in this regard. There is an urgent need in China to establish a credible traceability system for agricultural products—a system that can better guarantee the quality and safety of such products. Blockchain technology is essentially a shared database: stored information is characterized by non-forgery, non-tampering, full traceability, openness, and transparency. By combining blockchain technology with the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, time stamp encryption, and other technologies, it is possible to establish a traceability system for agricultural products to cover planting, picking, circulation, storage, sales, and production. By focusing on Liangping pomelos and taking Meizhou pomelosas an example, this study analyzes the application of the conventional traceability system for Liangping pomelos; it exposes the problems associated with applying that system. This paper also examines the application of blockchain technology for the traceability of grapefruit. The framework of such a system is presented. A discussion is made of the traceability mechanism with respect to obtaining planting information, cold chain transportation, supervision and quality inspection links, and consumption links. Finally, this paper summarizes the application of blockchain technology in the traceability of other agricultural products; it identifies current problems, thereby setting the stage for further innovation and development.

Key words: traceability agricultural products, blockchain, Internet of Things, Meizhou pomelos, case analysis, blockchain technology, agricultural blockchain, quality and safety of agricultural products