Partnership to record agricultural data using blockchain

Momentum is building for the development and commercialisation of agricultural technologies. One of the least digitised sectors globally, agriculture is now attracting new perspectives and capital. This digital transformation has become essential for multiple reasons, the principal one being the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) estimate that farmers will have to produce 70% more food by 2050 to meet the needs of the world's enlarged population.

Fidesterra is an AgriTech management platform that combines remote sensing tools with data analytics, satellite imagery, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and IoT devices to provide farmers with detailed and accurate data so they can monitor the quality of crops one month before harvest and develop more effective and sustainable practices. The company predominantly works with agri-food co-operatives and big agricultural corporations based in Spain, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.

Fidesterra has recently integrated Finboot’s unique production-ready blockchain middleware MARCO into this platform in order to securely record all of the agricultural data that is gathered from these technologies, including the temperature of soil, water levels and use of fertilisers. This enables farmers to closely monitor growing conditions and therefore identify the most lucrative time to plant and harvest crops.

By using blockchain infrastructure, Fidesterra is ensuring its clients’ data is stored in a safe environment where the information is reliable, trustworthy and immutable. With more data, companies could predict shortages or over-production more accurately: in the case of the latter, this could help to address the global sustainability concern of food waste.

In addition, blockchain has the unique capability of being able to record every step in the agricultural product’s supply chain to provide full traceability and transparency. For example, it can confirm the organic status of food, with the blockchain certifying that no pesticides or man-made fertilisers were used on the crop. This benefits both the farmers, who can prove the quality of their products and therefore increase their value in the marketplace, and the consumers, who are increasingly conscious about the provenance of their food.

Noslen Suárez PhD, Business Development Manager at Finboot, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Fidesterra to help support its mission to make agriculture more effective and sustainable. Having access to accurate and verifiable data will help farmers to make more informed decisions about their agricultural methods, revolutionising the industry in the process. Advanced technology solutions, such as that offered by MARCO in AgriTech, will play a crucial role in meeting UN sustainability goals such as ‘end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030’. Blockchain technology has the potential to benefit several areas of agriculture operations by streamlining and enhancing processes, and we look forward to extending use cases within the sector.”

Jesús Pavón, CTO and Co-Founder at Fidesterra, commented: “This collaboration with Finboot, one of the leading companies in the enterprise blockchain sector, is an exciting step for us and significantly differentiates us in the AgriTech market. It was very simple to integrate Finboot’s MARCO product into Fidesterra’s software architecture, so we were up and running within two weeks. Our clients will hugely benefit from this partnership, and I look forward to seeing the results."