INDORE: A five-day meeting of BRICS member countries began on Tuesday in Indore, focusing on issues such as food security, climate-friendly smart agriculture, agricultural trade, and farmer welfare.

As part of this conference, held under India's BRICS chairmanship, the Agriculture Working Group will hold deliberations till June 11 with officials from member countries.

India's Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Secretary Atish Chandra led the inaugural session of the meeting.

Following the official-level meeting, the BRICS agriculture ministers will meet on June 12 and 13.

BRICS is an intergovernmental organisation comprising 11 major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.

The five-day conference will discuss topics such as food security, farmer welfare, nutrition, climate-friendly smart agriculture, facilitating international agricultural trade, supply chains, digital agriculture, research, knowledge exchange, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics, officials said.

A joint declaration will be issued after the BRICS agriculture ministers reach a consensus, they said.

The meeting, taking place in Indore, the economic capital of Madhya Pradesh and India's cleanest city, coincides with the state government's declaration of 2026 as the 'Year of Farmer Welfare'.