The role of RFID in agriculture: Applications, limitations and challenges

Abstract

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. a b s t r a c tThe recent advances in RFID offer vast opportunities for research, development and innovation in agriculture. The aim of this paper is to give readers a comprehensive view of current applications and new possibilities, but also explain the limitations and challenges of this technology. RFID has been used for years in animal identification and tracking, being a common practice in many farms. Also it has been used in the food chain for traceability control. The implementation of sensors in tags, make possible to monitor the cold chain of perishable food products and the development of new applications in fields like environmental monitoring, irrigation, specialty crops and farm machinery.However, it is not all advantages. There are also challenges and limitations that should be faced in the next years. The operation in harsh environments, with dirt, extreme temperatures; the huge volume of data that are difficult to manage; the need of longer reading ranges, due to the reduction of signal strength due to propagation in crop canopy; the behavior of the different frequencies, understanding what is the right one for each application; the diversity of the standards and the level of granularity are some of them.

Relationships between range access as monitored by radio frequency identification technology, fearfulness, and plumage damage in free-range laying hens

“…Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been used extensively in other industries, and in other species (Bonter and Bridge, 2011;Ruiz-Garcia and Lunadei, 2011;Morris et al, 2012). However, studies using RFID technology in domestic poultry, particularly in relation to range use, are in their infancy (Gebhardt-Henrich et al, 2014).…”

“…Individual variation is an important factor to consider in behavioural studies (Brunberg et al, 2011;Rodenburg et al, 2013;Bessei and Kjaer, 2015), and fearfulness is thought to vary on an individual bird level due to differences in brain morphology and serotonin turnover (Gruss and Braun, 1997;Rodenburg et al, 2013). While it is generally believed that there is a negative correlation between range use and fearfulness, very few studies have investigated this association, and the relationship between range use, fearfulness and SFP is relatively unexplored.Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been used extensively in other industries, and in other species (Bonter and Bridge, 2011;Ruiz-Garcia and Lunadei, 2011;Morris et al, 2012). However, studies using RFID technology in domestic poultry, particularly in relation to range use, are in their infancy (Gebhardt-Henrich et al, 2014).…”

Measuring the drinking behaviour of individual pigs housed in group using radio frequency identification (RFID)

“…An RFID tag with a unique identification code can be attached to the animal. The RFID tag can be detected at the drinking device using an antenna and reader unit (Ruiz-Garcia and Lunadei, 2011). Most RFID systems used for animal identification are low frequency (LF) RFID (Junge et al, 2013;Andersen et al, 2014).…”

A Framework for Developing Social Networks Enabling Systems to Enhance the Transparency and Visibility of Cross-border Food Supply Chains

“…International organizations, non-government and government organizations, and industry consortiums have been pursuing the enforcement and reform of variable food guidelines, standards and legislations, promoting or forcing food producers, logistics providers and retailers to adopt specific management and operation practices, to safeguard food quality and safety [19]. Food companies are struggling to pilot innovative business practices and implement emerging technologies to establish flexible and efficient collaborations with upstream and downstream partners for sharing tracking and tracing information, thus improving the efficiency and transparency of their supply chains [3], [10], [16][17][18], [24], [49].…”

“…International organizations, non-government and government organizations, and industry consortiums have been pursuing the enforcement and reform of variable food guidelines, standards and legislations, promoting or forcing food producers, logistics providers and retailers to adopt specific management and operation practices, to safeguard food quality and safety [19]. Food companies are struggling to pilot innovative business practices and implement emerging technologies to establish flexible and efficient collaborations with upstream and downstream partners for sharing tracking and tracing information, thus improving the efficiency and transparency of their supply chains [3], [10], [16][17][18], [24], [49].Globalization, personalized food consumption behavior, and unprecedentedly increasing demands on quality and healthy foods from both developed countries and emerging economies DOI 10.7603/s40601-013-0051-8are imposing significant complexities and rising costs for achieving horizontal and vertical transparency in local or cross-border/global, 'closed' or 'open' food supply chains [63], [67]. Worldwide food and agricultural export had doubled to US$900 billion in 2007 compared to US$400 billion in 2000, which continues to increase [74].…”