BRICS member states are advancing plans to create a unified digital agricultural monitoring platform, with Russia offering to provide partners with data from its orbital Earth remote sensing constellation as ready-made agricultural services.
Precision Agriculture and Unified BRICS Monitoring
The proposed geoinformation platform would consolidate data from the satellite constellations of all member countries, which account for almost half of the planet’s agricultural land.
“Agriculture is rapidly becoming one of the largest consumers of big data, and, accordingly, without a unified monitoring system, it is now impossible to effectively manage global food security,” Lubarto Sartoyo, President of the Alliance of Business Structures and Entrepreneurs of Southeast Asian Countries, said in an interview with TV BRICS.
The initiative builds on precision agriculture techniques that replace broad application with targeted treatment per square metre, allowing farmers to apply more fertiliser where the soil is depleted and irrigate only where it is dry. The approach relies on three main steps: collecting information using satellites and drones; analysing it using artificial intelligence or computer programmes; and applying differentiated treatment, where specialised autopilot-equipped machinery performs work based on the plans and maps created. These satellite systems control movement, optimise routes, reduce fuel consumption, minimise grain losses, and create detailed yield maps, eliminating human error.
Existing National Observation Networks
Member countries currently operate individual large-scale monitoring systems. In Brazil, the SOMABRASIL (Sistema de Observação e Monitoramento da Agricultura no Brasil) system is active.
“This WebGIS platform integrates agricultural census data and information obtained from satellites into a single database for the entire country, making it possible to analyse agricultural dynamics and changes in land use. The SOMABRASIL system covers more than 200m hectares, enabling the annual monitoring of changes in cultivated areas and yields across all Brazilian states,” said Roman Romashkin, Deputy Director of the Eurasian Centre for Food Security at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
China operates a meteorological observation network of more than 2,000 ground stations integrated with satellite and unmanned aerial vehicle data to produce highly accurate regional yield forecasts for its national food strategy. Meanwhile, the Indian government approved its Digital Agriculture Mission in September 2024, featuring the Krishi-Decision Support System (Krishi-DSS), a digital geospatial platform providing real-time data on yields, droughts, and floods.
“Krishi-DSS is already being implemented in pilot districts and is expected eventually to cover all rural districts of India, providing access to digital services for more than 100m farmers. In addition, a project is being implemented to create detailed soil maps at the level of rural settlements,” Romashkin said.
Proposed BRICS Geodata Platform and Synergies
Russia operates a digital state system merging satellite data, vegetation maps, and crop rotation data into a single database. Bilateral integration is also underway between member states.
“A striking example of technological integration is the joint China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) programme. Satellites in this series monitor the state of the Amazon forests and large agricultural areas, helping to assess soil health and biomass volumes,” said Oleg Alekseenko, Associate Professor at the Department of Global Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
In mid-April 2025, Brazil announced the BRICS group would create a land restoration partnership to combat desertification and soil degradation. Experts indicate this initiative and geospatial data could form the foundation for a unified BRICS agricultural platform.
“Creating a unified digital platform for agriculture in the BRICS countries is a complex and long-term task. It requires the unification of numerous methodologies: protocols for soil sampling and laboratory analysis, approaches to processing and interpreting satellite data, yield forecasting algorithms, and formats for exchanging geospatial information, as well as methods for assessing food security. It would be extremely laborious and costly for each country to overcome these barriers alone,” Romashkin said.
Initial joint projects are expected to focus on satellite technologies and precision agriculture, combining China’s satellite and AI expertise, Russia’s soil science and geospatial database development, and Egypt’s experience adapting agriculture to arid conditions and reclaiming desert land. This integration would operate across diverse agro-climatic zones, from Russia’s chernozem soils to Egypt’s irrigated fields. The precision data is also considered a prerequisite for a future BRICS grain exchange, enabling accurate production volume forecasts.
“Researchers from Lomonosov Moscow State University, together with their Brazilian colleagues from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, are planning to launch a joint research project aimed at studying how space monitoring and the integration of BRICS technological platforms can ensure collective food and environmental security amid global change,” Alekseenko said.
Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analytics
Satellites provide critical data for forecasting droughts, halting sand spread, and detecting otherwise invisible threats.
“We should not forget that there are specific threats that can only be seen from space. For example, soil salinisation is a real problem for Iran, the UAE, Egypt and southern Russia. Thanks to infrared and thermal channels, satellites can detect changes in the reflectivity of the land. Whitish salt-affected patches are visible in images, making it possible to launch desalinisation processes in time,” Alekseenko said.
Managing terabytes of ultra-high-resolution satellite imagery requires artificial intelligence to identify anomalies and model long-term trends. In Russia, AI technologies help create interactive field maps with layered information on every stage of crop cultivation.
“Even now, small-satellite constellations can provide daily monitoring with an accuracy of several metres. In my view, this is a driver of AI development. We are moving from simple ‘photography’ to predictive analytics: forecasting yields, early detection of plant diseases and optimal fertiliser calculations. This is precision agriculture, which directly affects business profitability,” Sartoyo said.
Significant areas in China, India, and South Africa face gradual land degradation that is ineffective to survey on the ground, making satellites and AI an essential early warning system.
“In Russia, for example, scientists use satellite images to monitor desertification in the Black Lands of Kalmykia and in the Astrakhan Region. Algorithms compare images taken over 10–15 years to determine the speed and direction of dune movement. In China, satellites monitored the famous Great Green Wall of China project – the large-scale planting of shelterbelts to contain the Gobi Desert. Space imagery clearly showed where trees had taken root and stabilised the soil and where the sand was prevailing,” Alekseenko said.
Future BRICS Satellite Missions and Implementation Barriers
Falling launch costs and higher imagery resolution are facilitating future joint projects, including the expected launch of a BRICS climate satellite to monitor forest fires, measure methane emissions in agricultural regions, and track freshwater reserves. This is expected to be followed by a Unified Platform for Restoring Degraded Land.
A Unified BRICS Agricultural Platform would standardise arable land data, support an agricultural carbon credit market, unify agricultural insurance approaches, and provide traders with objective harvest forecasts. However, three barriers remain: the absence of common standards for exchanging Earth remote sensing data; a shortage of qualified personnel to integrate agricultural technologies; and a high entry threshold limiting technology access for small and medium-sized farms.
“This is precisely where we see an opportunity for cooperation: the creation of affordable products adapted to local markets, possibly with government support at the initial stage, in cooperation with specialised associations and business communities. In my view, satellite technologies will become one of the key links connecting our countries into a single technological agricultural ecosystem,” Sartoyo said.
(This article incorporates reporting originally prepared by Svetlana Khristoforova for TV BRICS.)
