Digital Platform on Precision Farming
National pilot under the state “Digital Development of Belarus” programme
Description
The Digital Platform of Precision Farming is a national pilot project (2025-2026) that aims to develop and test a comprehensive digital platform for precision agriculture in Belarus. The platform will integrate various technologies including GIS, GPS, remote sensing, and data analytics to support farm management and optimize agricultural production. A national pilot that equips selected farms across Belarus with precision-farming capabilities and measures results in real field operations. One enterprise per region was selected (two in Minsk region), with planned investment of about USD 2.1 million and delivery of machinery plus upgrades in 2025.
Technology
A unified software-and-hardware precision agriculture setup combining on-farm machinery retrofits and field data tools: autopilot/automatic navigation for high-power tractors (~350 hp), yield mapping for combine harvesters, GPS for forage harvesters, and additional equipment including strip-till seeders/harvesters (6 tractors + 7 grain/forage harvesters and seeders in 2025). At the platform level, it integrates precision elements such as parallel driving, fuel tracking, differential fertilizer application, plow operation monitoring, and soil sampling/analysis, expanding into field monitoring, machinery control, and crop production management at full scale.
Target
Primary users are the selected agricultural enterprises and their agronomists, farm managers, and machinery operators who need standardized tools for field monitoring and controlled input application. Among pilot sites are SE Olekshitsy, MAUE Experimental Base Krinichnaya, JSC Dostoevo, RAUE Shipyany-ASK, RUE Uchkhoz BHSA, Agricultural branch office of JSC Minskoblagroservice, UE Dolzha Agro.
Business model
As a national pilot project, the platform is being developed with government support. Future deployment and business models are to be determined based on pilot results.
Impact
The platform can boost productivity and sustainability by enabling precision farming that optimizes inputs and reduces environmental impact across Belarus. Key risks are adoption friction (new routines like calibration, soil sampling discipline, and data interpretation), data quality traps (wrong boundaries or weak sampling leading to “precisely wrong” recommendations), operational dependency (GNSS issues, hardware upkeep, mixed-fleet integration causing downtime), and uneven benefits if pilots favor large enterprises while smaller farms lag behind.
Partners
Ministry of Communications and Informatization
Four Betters
Better production
Better environment
