BRICS meeting in Indore to focus on food security, farmer welfare: Chouhan
Indore is hosting the BRICS Agriculture Working Group Meeting (June 9–11, 2026) followed by the BRICS Agriculture Ministers' Meeting (June 12–13, 2026) under India's 2026 BRICS Presidency.
The five-day event brings together agriculture ministers and senior officials from all eleven BRICS member nations.
Key agenda items include global food security and nutrition, climate-smart agriculture, farmer welfare, digital and precision farming, artificial intelligence in agriculture, and resilient agricultural supply chains.
A special session themed "Future Food Security through Women and Youth" is scheduled for June 12, recognising women's critical role in the agricultural workforce and youth adoption of new farm technologies.
India is hosting BRICS in 2026 for the fourth time, having previously held the chairship in 2012, 2016, and 2021.
BRICS — Membership, Structure, and India's Presidency
BRICS is an informal grouping of major emerging market and developing economies. The grouping expanded significantly in 2024 to include new members, making it a coalition of eleven countries.
Key Details
- Original BRICS members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa.
- New members (joined January 2024): Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
- India's 2026 BRICS theme: "BRICS: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability" (BRICS).
- BRICS does not have a permanent secretariat; the presidency rotates annually among members.
- India has chaired BRICS four times: 2012, 2016, 2021, and 2026.
- A BRICS Summit under India's presidency is expected in September 2026.
India is using its 2026 BRICS presidency to highlight agriculture and food security as global multilateral priorities, consistent with India's domestic priorities and its identity as a major agricultural economy.
Global Food Security: Key Frameworks and Metrics
Food security, as defined by the 1996 World Food Summit, exists when "all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food." It rests on four pillars: availability, access, utilisation, and stability.
Key Details
- BRICS nations collectively control approximately 42% of the world's agricultural land.
- BRICS countries account for about 68% of the world's small and marginal farmers.
- BRICS members produce around 45% of global grain output.
- The UN's Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) calls for Zero Hunger by 2030.
- Climate change is now the leading systemic threat to food security globally, affecting crop yields, water availability, and supply chain stability.
These BRICS-level statistics underscore why a ministerial meeting among BRICS countries on food security carries significant global weight. Coordinated policies across BRICS could meaningfully influence global food markets, agricultural trade norms, and climate adaptation strategies.
Climate-Smart Agriculture
Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach to managing landscapes — cropland, livestock, forests, and fisheries — to address the interlinked challenges of food security and accelerating climate change. It aims to simultaneously increase agricultural productivity, enhance resilience to climate variability, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Key Details
- CSA integrates techniques like drought-resistant crop varieties, precision irrigation, weather-indexed crop insurance, and agroforestry.
- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN is the primary international body promoting CSA globally.
- Digital agriculture tools — including remote sensing, AI-driven crop advisory systems, and precision farming equipment — are increasingly central to CSA implementation.
- India's National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) is its primary domestic framework aligned with CSA principles.
The Indore meeting's agenda on digital farming, AI in agriculture, and climate-resilient supply chains reflects the growing convergence between CSA principles and BRICS countries' agricultural modernisation agendas.
- Meeting dates: BRICS Agriculture Working Group (June 9–11); Ministers' Meeting (June 12–13, 2026).
- Host city: Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
- India's BRICS presidency theme: "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability."
- BRICS member nations: 11 (as of 2024 expansion).
- BRICS share of global agricultural land: ~42%.
- BRICS share of world's small farmers: ~68%.
- BRICS share of global grain production: ~45%.
- India has chaired BRICS in: 2012, 2016, 2021, and 2026.
- Special session theme: "Future Food Security through Women and Youth" (June 12).