Plants with implanted RFID microchips: Traceability and outlook in information management systems

In recent years consumers have demanded safer and more wholesome products, and stricter regulations have supported these expectations. Thus, the need to know more about the origins and qualitative characteristics of food products commercialized worldwide has increased. Traceability is essentially the "history" of a product, from its origin to the shelf, and in agriculture traceability reaches back to the genetic status of products, whether they are of animal or vegetal origin. In order to verify the status of a product, different tools are used during different phases of the production line. In agriculture, radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has been introduced efficiently in animal identification systems for traceability purposes, and legal regulations have been put in place for this sector. Differently from animals, where the microchip is often inserted within the organism, RFID applications for plants mainly regard food traceability, logistics or harvesting, in which the microchip (tag) is not inserted inside the plant or product. In the last 5 years, experimental trials focusing on inserting tags within plants have been carried out on Citrus spp., Cypress spp., Platanus spp., Vitis spp. and other genus. Keeping in mind plant histology and organ size, different techniques and tag allocations have been proposed, yet the standardization of RFID tagging in plants does not seem possible. In fact, specific solutions have been suggested for tagging plants with respect to growth stage, anatomy or aesthetic considerations. Moreover, even the aim of tagging can orientate the technology used and, consequentially, the methods of tag insertion. Nowadays, identification of mother plants used for propagative purposes or plant pathology monitoring represent the most relevant cases of study or practical applications, but there are also some interesting outlooks with regard to RFID integration with precision farming and for developing information management systems. Implanting an RFID microchip inside a plant represents the first step for developing integrated systems that involve positioning techniques, mobile or Wi-Fi devices and a Web 2.0 approach. These complex systems can strongly support farm management, differentiate the final product in markets, and help controllers in their verification and increase consumer confidence in product origin.