Blockchain-Enhanced IOT Integration for Secure and Transparent Farm Sensor Data Management

Abstract

With the evolution of communication technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) is progressing from its early stages to complete maturity, experiencing explosive data transmission and processing growth. Consequently, the management of globally deployed devices has faced heightened and demanding features for real-world performance. Most current IoT device management platforms are centralized, presenting technical drawbacks like susceptibility to cyber-attacks and a single thread of execution. A novel approach is imperative to improve data access while following government dictates on confidentiality. This study introduces a sensor system based on IoT with the integration of blockchain technology to ensure the privacy and security of sensing data. The aim was to provide IoT device owners with a real application that provides a broad and unalterable record and enables the easiest access to devices. It features typical attributes of the IoT sensor framework, such as facilitating data monitoring and controlling interactions among users and devices. An intelligent contract defines rules and conditions for the application's business logic. The proposed approach is validated through the real-world deployment of an IoT prototype using a microcontroller (NodeMCU) and the defined network permissions. A target study employing various performance metrics emphasizes the platform's suitability for resource-constrained IoT architectures and its scalability for diverse IoT scenarios. The study work is tested for cotton fields. Additionally, irrigation automation was applied to optimize water consumption. The findings show that combining blockchain with IoT significantly improves transparency, security, and efficiency in agricultural management, providing a strong and effective solution for contemporary agricultural practices.