RFID tracking of potted plants from nursery to distribution

Secure identification of individual plants is needed in potted flowers industry to guarantee traceability, quality and origin of plants, to protect quality marks and for genetic heritage preservation. Besides, the identification at single plant level allows automated data collection and contributes to oppose the counterfeit phenomenon. This paper describes how a RFID based traceability system for single potted plant tracking from nursery to distribution in commercial greenhouses during the whole production process of Camellia and Azalea can be implemented. RFID systems operating at three frequencies were evaluated: LF systems were tested in the case of tag insertion in the soil, while HF and UHF systems were adopted using tags embedded in plastic label strongly anchored to the plant roots. Different combinations of mobile and fixed antennas, readers and transponders were evaluated. Reading tests were performed on single or multiple plants, both in dynamic and static conditions. The LF RFID solution resulted suitable in the case of tag insertion in the potting compost. Multiple identification in HF gates is reliable in the case of plants arranged on a trolley passing, at low speed, through a narrow gate. Multiple dynamic pot reading resulted promising with UHF combination of linear and circular polarization antennas.