S4 is a startup from Argentina, dedicated to creating technology to reduce climate and productive risk in crop production, and has joined Food Trust, a global blockchain-based ecosystem for the food industry. This was reported from IBM to Cointelegraph in Spanish, on November 21, through a statement. This agtech startup will be part of the blockchain-based traceability chain. It should also be noted that S4 graduated from the “Startup with IBM” program and continues to expand in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, United States, Germany, Ukraine and Turkey.
The solution is blockchain
Using this solution, S4 will incorporate blockchain technology in its S4Go product to record the geographical location of the lots and their productive technical information at the moment in which the information is drawn, recorded and confirmed, creating visibility and responsibility in the origination chain from the initial moment
In the statement, from IBM explained that, according to the Inter-American Development Bank, 127 million tons of food are wasted every year in Latin America, which is equivalent to one third of what the region produces in the same period.
Through the agreement with the IBM Food Trust, S4Go will be able to selectively share key information on food products with its other commercial actors – such as suppliers, producers, retailers – in a highly secure and authorized way on blockchain. By allowing this higher level of transparency, S4Go can collaborate more efficiently and effectively with members of the agribusiness chain by indexing plant growth, by applying artificial intelligence on satellite data and various remote sources to optimize productive management and real-time monitoring of crops, and thus more adequately plan food production, in order to reduce waste and risk.
The price of a good business
Mariano Tamburrino co-founder and COO of S4, said: “Thanks to IBM technology, the producer and subsequent actors in the chain can track up and down, secure and transparent location and development of their crops. This also enables future certification, since S4Go adds information obtained through processes, guaranteeing not only the immutability of the information, but also the interpretation and validation of the information provided by the producer”.
The process
The blockchain-based information exchange platform, IBM Food Trust, connects the origination chain data across the ecosystem providing levels of trust and transparency. In addition to providing information on the source, members of the network are obtaining benefits such as optimized chain processes, greater freshness, more food security, minimization of waste and food fraud.
Created with the open source technology based on Hyperledger Fabric, Food Trust uses a management model that ensures that companies can establish rules on who can see the data they load into the solution and for how long, and that they maintain control of their data even after you have uploaded to Food Trust.
Blockchain has it all
“Blockchain technology has the potential to transform any industry, especially in sectors with multiple environments, companies and organizations, such as in the food supply chain,” said Martin Hagelstrom, Blockchain executive for IBM Latin America. “Working with S4 can help us alleviate the weaknesses of the food industry and help generate responsible food consumption throughout the population”.
The incorporation of IBM Blockchain adds to the use of IBM Cloud, in which S4 integrates the harvest information with a planting plan, seed density and soil analysis. The company has developed a georeferenced platform for decision making for the agricultural producer and seeks to improve the process in complex environments to collaborate in the global challenge of generating quality food.
Also published on Medium.