Potato is designated as a “Future Food” for food and nutritional security in the developing world (FAO, 2008). Globally, India is the second-largest potato producer in the world and ranks third in an area under potato cultivation with 7.72% of the world’s potatoes from 7.57% of the global potato-growing area and has productivity levels higher than the world’s average (Rana, 2011). The potato production in the country has jumped from 1.54 million tons in the year 1949-50 to 59.74 million tons in the year 2022-23. (NHM, 2022-231st adv. estimates) while the productivity has increased by almost 34 times in these years (ICAR-CPRI POTATO STATISTICS). Potato is a vegetatively propagated crop and its yield is affected by several factors. Among them, quality seed is one of the most important factors. 40 to 50 per cent of the input cost for potato crop production goes for seed purchase. The average yield increase from 30 to 50 per cent by the use of good quality seeds as compared to farmers’ seeds was reported by FAO in a document on potatoes in Asia-Pacific (https://www.fao.org/3/i0200e/I0200E05.htm).
Punjab is one of the major agricultural states of India, with an area of a mere 1.57 per cent of India’s total geographical area, contributing 12 per cent to the nation’s 234 million tons of food grain. Punjab stands 6th in total potato production of 2.57 million tonnes, recording the third-highest productivity (26.10 t/ha) from an area of 0.98 lakh ha in 2017-18 (Horticulture Statistics Division, Department of Agri. & Cooperation). Its unique agro-climate with healthy soils of Punjab (free from bacterial wilt and other soil-borne diseases) coupled with The “seed plot technique” given by CPRI which enabled the healthy seed potato production in Indi-Gangetic plains, has enabled it to evolve as the major disease-free seed producer of the country, which meets 90% of the total disease-free potato requirement of the country (Status report Department of Horticulture, Punjab). An evaluation of the prevalent seed systems in Punjab revealed that both the formal and informal seed systems were prevalent in the state. Based on an estimate the formal seed system contributes only 20% of the total seed production in India, used by growers whereas the other 80 % is contributed by the informal system (Kadian et al., 2007). Punjab has earned the status of “Seed Bowl of Potato” in the country. Seed potatoes is being supplied to other states from both formal and informal seed systems. Though the State contributes only about 5% of potato area and production in the country about 55% of potatoes produced are supplied as seed to other states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and other potato-producing states representing around 20 per cent of the seed demand of the country every year. Punjab, especially the Doaba and The Malwa regions grow potatoes in about 83500 hectares producing about 2.0 million tons of potato with an average productivity of 24.7 tons/ha (Directorate-F&VO, European Commission, audit 2011-12). Punjab produces around 27 lakh metric tons of potatoes annually and supplies around 60-70% of seed potatoes to domestic markets.
The steady increase in manipulations on the quality of seed potatoes from Punjab has caused huge economic losses and eroded consumers’ trust. It became a pressing issue for producers, researchers, governments, consumers, and other stakeholders working in Seed Potato production in Punjab. Tracking and authenticating the seed potato in the supply chain to understand provenance is critical to identifying and addressing sources of contamination in the supply chain. One way of solving traceability issues and ensuring transparency is using blockchain technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) to collect and store data chronologically to prevent manipulations afterwards.
To protect the interests of Punjab farmers and uphold the state’s leadership position as the largest potato seed-producing state a major step towards value addition to potato seed, the Government of Punjab introduced the certification and traceability of seed potatoes to ensure optimum transparency with the introduction of a blockchain traceability-based certification system.
With the advent of Blockchain technology, traceability is offering opportunities, to Potato growers in the domestic or international markets, will be able to differentiate Punjab’s potatoes from other states by deploying blockchain technology to undertake certification and traceability of seed potatoes right from the nucleus to the certified seed level (harvest). By leveraging blockchain technology, potato growers and buyers would be able to trace the origin of the seeds of potatoes. Using technologies such as barcodes and QR codes will allow the farmers to cross-check whether they are buying genuine seeds hailing from Punjab or not. Under the project, the quality of seeds would be checked before sowing and will also be geo-tagged. The main objective of geo-tagging is to check the falsification of plantation claims. Officials said regular inspections of the field will be undertaken to keep a check on the inputs and disease. To start with, a digitized database will be set up, which will also provide farmers with access to technical know-how on crop planning and management, inputs, credit, post-harvest management, value addition, and improved market linkages. The centralized platform would also help in capturing all relevant information through a simple mobile application and give dashboard-based insights on the data captured thereby ensuring traceability of the entire value chain. This initiative will not only protect the interest of Punjab farmers with better realizations but will also uphold the state’s leadership position as the largest potato seed-producing state.
Conclusion: – The Department of Agriculture and Welfare, Government of Punjab Year 2019 initiated the certification and traceability of seed potatoes to ensure optimum transparency. This task was entrusted to Punjab Agri Export Corporation (PAGREXCO) along with a Bengaluru-based company Technology Solutions as a technology partner. Blockchain technology will be used to undertake certification and traceability of seed potatoes right from the nucleus to the certified seed level. Under the project, the quality and sources of seed potatoes will be ascertained at each level and will also be geo-tagged. The main objective of geo-tagging is to check the falsification of plantation claims. Regular inspection of the fields will be undertaken by the Punjab State Seed certification authority to keep a check on the quality of standing crops. Data of the area of seed potatoes taken under audit for the crop season 2019-20 and 2020-21 along with the stage of seed potatoes at the time of sowing is given below.
| AREA OF SEED POTATO TAGGED UNDER TRACEABILITY | |
| YEAR | AREA (Ha.) |
| 2017-18 | 615.92 |
| 2018-19 | 417.54 |
| 2019-20 | 779.72 |
| 2020-21 | 633.44 |
| 2021-22 | 579.14 |
With the use of blockchain technology, potato farmers would be able to trace the origin of the seeds they buy. software solutions of this technology generate interfaces such as barcodes and QR codes which allow the farmers and buyers to cross-check whether they are buying genuine seeds hailing from Punjab or not.
The centralized platform would help in capturing all relevant information through a simple mobile application and give dashboard-based insights on the data captured thereby ensuring traceability of the entire value chain. this will also help in generating a digital database of the farmers involved in seed potato production to provide them access to technical know-how on crop planning and management, inputs, credit, post-harvest management, value addition, and improved market linkages.
The potential of blockchain technology for assuring traceability and authenticity for the quality of seed potatoes in the supply chain will prove a milestone in the future for Potato seed growers of Punjab.
