Identity preservation is the practice of tracking the details of agricultural shipments so that the specific characteristics of each shipment is known. Identity preserved (IP) is the designation given to such bulk commodities marketed in a manner that isolates and preserves the identity of a shipment, presumably because of unique characteristics that have value otherwise lost through commingling during normal storage, handling and shipping procedures. The concept of IP has been accorded greater importance with the introduction of genetically modified organisms into agriculture. Technical and managerial techniques are used to track and document the paths that agricultural products move in the production process. A fully integrated IP system might track and document a commodity's seed characteristics, initial planting, growing conditions,

harvesting Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

, storage, processing,

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coo ...

, and ultimate sale to the consumer. Separating

organic product An organic product is made from materials produced by organic agriculture. Most well known organic products are organic food items, however clothing and personal care items can also be made with organic agriculture. Many countries have strict co ...

s from conventionally raised ones is one type of IP system. IP systems are a central component of

value chain A value chain is a progression of activities that a business or firm performs in order to deliver goods and services of Value (economics), value to an end customer. The concept comes from the field of business management and was first described ...

References

* Agricultural marketing Food safety {{Agri-stub