Traceability System for Agricultural Products

This system ensures complete control over the production and marketing of agricultural products from the field to the final consumer. Specifically, this system focuses on recording the whole history of each product (full traceability) and it contains all the information needed relating to cultivation conditions, production, packing and transport of agricultural produce from the field to the retailer.

In this system it is very important to continuously transmit data at each stage of the product. In order to receive the information required it is necessary to use wireless and mobile communications as well as sensors for the collection of data field and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to identify products.

More specifically, the applied technologies include, wireless sensor technologies ZigBee (for the data transmission from sensors to the field), RFID (for the management of goods, traceability, Proof of Delivery, unique marking of each product, etc.), GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), OBU (on-Board Unit), TCU (Trailer Control Unit) and GPRS / UMTS for the data geocoding (eg location field) and for the transmission of data via mobile networks.

The primary data collected from the sensors include elements which may contribute indicatively to:

(a) Crops’ monitoring for early detection of diseases in plants,

(b) Climatic conditions monitoring for the avoidance of frost damage in fruit crops,

(c) Development of sustainable farming practices and

(d) Assessment of the situation during the transport, packaging and product standardization.

Once the information is transmitted via wireless or mobile communication networks, it is stored in databases, where the central management subsystem feeds a web platform where producers, corporate customers (packers, wholesalers, factories, etc.) as well as final consumers can access information concerning the full path tracing. The full path tracing which is supported by the system, based on the philosophy that agricultural products cannot only be safe: consumers are entitled to know what they buy and whether it meets their needs.