Secure identification, traceability and real-time tracking of agricultural food supply during transportation using internet of things

Abstract

Food supply chain process comprises crops collection, processing of food, shipping & delivery to the whole seller in the market. Harvested foods decompose from the moment they are harvested due to attacks from enzymes, oxidation, and microorganisms. These include bacteria, mold, yeast, moisture, temperature, and chemical reaction. The spoilage of fresh food has increased over time due to the multistage slow food supply chain process. The identification, traceability, and real-time tracking of goods in supply chains have always been a challenge. The advent of the Internet of Things and cloud computing has brought a new approach to the food supply chain process for better cooperation among supply chain partners. The supply chain management (SCM) benefit greatly through automation based on key technologies of IoT, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). These technologies collect the data relevant to the food supply chain system, such as identifying tag-possessed objects or individuals and sensing capabilities of the surrounding environment. However, the collected data can be tempered or modified by attackers to provide false information about environmental conditions. They can destroy or damage the product due to false identification of dynamic environmental conditions. Furthermore, the current automation systems in industry-based retail logistics and SCM do not provide efficient solutions for monitoring the quality of perishable products with integrated solutions. This research aims to develop a secure monitoring and reporting system based on IoT to update the quality of the perishables along with the SCM with a focus on transportation without any human intervention.