BRICS Agriculture Ministers launches the “BRICS Land Restoration Partnership” to address land degradation, desertification and soil fertility loss.
At the 15th meeting of BRICS Agriculture Ministers, India reaffirmed its commitment to inclusive, equitable, and sustainable agriculture. During the meeting, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan highlighted that the world’s 510 million smallholder farmers are the backbone of the global food system and are also the most vulnerable in the face of climate change, price volatility, and resource scarcity. Chouhan stated that we cannot leave smallholders to fight these challenges alone; they need our policy support. He presented cluster-based farming, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), cooperative models, and natural farming as effective approaches for the collective empowerment of small farmers and improving their market access.
The meeting underlined the need to make agricultural trade fair, control global price volatility, and ensure remunerative prices for small farmers. He reiterated the importance of public food stockholding systems, minimum support prices (MSP), and value chains that connect smallholders directly to consumers. Shri Chouhan cited India’s food storage and distribution capacity during the COVID-19 crisis as a case in point, through which free rations were distributed to over 800 million people.
During the meeting, Chouhan called for deeper collaboration to combat climate change by sharing its key programs – National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), Waste to Wealth, Circular Economy, bio-fertilizers, and traditional farming practices. In this context, the BRICS Agriculture Ministers launched the “BRICS Land Restoration Partnership” to address land degradation, desertification, and soil fertility loss. He supported this initiative, highlighting that it would benefit small farmers, tribal communities, and local cultivators through the convergence of traditional knowledge and scientific innovation.
In the Joint Declaration, BRICS nations collectively reiterated their resolve to make the global agri-food system fair, inclusive, innovative, and sustainable. The declaration emphasized commitments to food security, climate adaptation, empowerment of women and youth, sustainable fisheries and livestock development, soil and land restoration, digital agriculture certification, and promotion of financial and trade mechanisms for the agricultural economies of the Global South. The formal announcement of the BRICS Land Restoration Partnership further reinforced the group’s collective commitment to halting land degradation and desertification.
Chouhan also invited BRICS nations to participate in World Food India 2025 and the World Audio-Visual Entertainment Summit 2025, positioning these platforms as avenues for innovation, partnership, and global collaboration.
