In a significant step toward enhancing transparency in agricultural trade, researchers from Federation University Australia unveiled GrainSupp, an artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain-driven tool designed to provide comprehensive traceability across the grain supply chain. The innovative technology was showcased during a workshop held on November 12 in New Delhi.

At the workshop, attended by stakeholders from industry, academia, and the agriculture sector, participants discussed current challenges, barriers, and opportunities for adopting GrainSupp in India. Discussions emphasized the need to address issues of supply chain inefficiency and financial insecurity among farmers, focusing on how advanced technology could transform the sector. Developed under the project “Grain Traceability for Collaborative Innovation, Value Addition and Return on Investment,” GrainSupp is supported by the Centre for Australia-India Relations, an initiative encouraging collaborative research and innovation.

Boosting traceability

“Federation University Australia is proud to be the recipient of a Maitri Research Grant. One of our university’s key research areas is agribusiness, and this grant supports our work in this field. It will be used to develop GrainSupp, a tool using artificial intelligence-based blockchain technology that will assess the traceability of grains. This project has the support of farmers, industry groups, and ITC, a major Indian agribusiness company, and will enhance the financial security of producers and vendors by helping track grains throughout the product lifecycle,” said Professor Duncan Bentley, Vice-Chancellor and President at Federation University Australia, in a statement.

Professor Paul Pang, who co-developed GrainSupp and leads the Internet Commerce Security Laboratory (ICSL) at Federation University Australia, explained that the tool leverages AI and blockchain technology to provide reliable grain traceability. Professor Pang drew a comparison between the rapid growth of peer-to-peer (P2P) e-commerce and the expected rise of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, suggesting that tools like GrainSupp could be instrumental as B2B agri-trade gains momentum. “The GrainSupp system will be highly useful for grain traceability in agricultural trade at both domestic and international levels,” he noted, predicting that the tool’s capabilities could extend beyond grains to various agricultural products in the future. The system addresses the need for transparency in agricultural trade, facilitating both domestic and international transactions with reliable trace data.

Opportunities for Indian agriculture

Professor Harpinder Sandhu, Director of the Ararat Jobs and Technology Precinct at Federation University Australia, highlighted the immense potential of AgTech to increase efficiency, productivity, and sustainability in farming. “Indian agriculture is at a crossroads, and the need for more diverse, responsibly grown food for the growing population is a challenge. AgTech can reshape agriculture in India and help transform the sector to secure food, nutritional, and ecological security,” he said. Sandhu emphasized that there are several opportunities for AgTech innovations through cooperation between Australia and India that can benefit the agricultural sector in both countries. Professor Sandhu further underscored the multifaceted applications of GrainSupp, stating that pilot projects and user case studies will be developed in partnership with Indian farmers, farming communities, and agribusinesses. This exploratory phase is expected to generate valuable insights and set the stage for wider implementation across the agricultural sector.