Streamlining Traceability Data Generation in Apple Production Using Integral Management with Machine-to-Machine Connections

Abstract

Legal requirements and consumer demands have motivated the development and application of traceability technology. Farming practices are the starting point of the agri-food supply chain and the destination of the agri-food traceability system (AFTS). The amount of resource information and the complexity of the production process of agri-food become the main obstacles to the wide application of AFTS. This study introduces an integrated machine-to-machine system that allows collecting field operation information automatically. This system includes an IoT-based integrated hardware system, a smart farm cloud (SFC) platform, and a mobile application, which accomplished the collection, upload, and storage of operation information. This system had been used in “BSD” organic apple orchard in Qixia, Shandong Province, China for about one year. The effectiveness of the system was evaluated by managing 270 apple trees in one plot of the orchard. Finally, a label with a QR code was successfully generated to provide consumers to query traceability information from a single tree to a fruit tray. This work was a background of a blockchain traceability system. Moreover, the future extendibility of the system was also discussed and prospected.