Figure 7: IoT-Powered Agriculture Blockchain System Architecture48
Farming is the first link in the agri-food traceability process. IoT smart devices can collect and transmit the traceability data needed in the business process. The traceability information available can store a blockchain-based traceability system. The traceability information may include farming background environment (e.g. soil, water, temperature and humidity quality), farming staff, date, time, origin and application of drug variety, irrigation, fertilizing and pesticides49. Startups such as FILAMENT have used blockchain technology to broadcast information obtained from IoTs such as weather data, SMA alerts, machinery protocol and GPS positioning on the farm to support precision agriculture and improve transparency. Aside from agriculture, IoT integrated with blockchain frameworks can also support sustainable aquaculture practices by monitoring rearing conditions (temperature sensors, water level sensors, oxygen sensors, and pH sensors) for monitoring any environmental changes and actuators (water pump, pond heater, fish feeder, and lighting LED) for regulating the corresponding environment. Sensors and actuators in one fish tank transmit information to the others, forming a complete fish farming environment. Data collected and analyzed by the IoT sensors can then be fed into the blockchain system. Users can have different permissions based on the type of data they wish to access. Additionally, the policy contract differentiates between access control for network administrative changes (network access control) and access control for resources within a business network (business access control)50.