Real Crops Grow in a Virtual Field
The PRODO Group has automated key production processes using a digital twin of its fields, a system for managing agricultural resources.
Precision in agronomic decisions is essential to growing successful crops, both at the start of the season and as plants mature. To support those decisions, agricultural businesses use virtual models of cultivated land that reflect current field conditions. These digital twins draw on data from Internet of Things (IoT) devices, drones and satellites, as well as short- and long-range weather forecasts. Using these tools, farmers can forecast crop development and choose the best responses to potential threats.
Greater Visibility and Faster Decisions
The PRODO Group introduced its digital agricultural resource management system in the fall of last year. In October 2026, the company presented the first results at the Agroinvestor: PRO Crop Production conference.
PRODO is one of Russia’s largest producers of poultry products, sausages, convenience foods and meat delicacies. The company also raises livestock and poultry using its own compound feed, and its arable land in Omsk Region alone covers more than 72,000 hectares. This land base provided the foundation for a unified virtual platform for managing crop production.
“We had already created a single digital map of our land resources, bringing planning, execution and reporting together in one system. Data were available at every management level, from field staff to senior executives. But having large amounts of data did not necessarily make them easy to manage. Our next challenge was to automate the transfer of data into the management accounting system, eliminating manual entry and the need for additional checks,” said Alena Vechirko, head of change management at PRODO Tech LLC.
Managers can now see field conditions in real time, enabling them to make decisions more quickly.
Monitoring Operations and Assets
The digital twin software automatically analyses satellite data and weather information, tracks crop development, generates Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) maps and calculates fertilizer application requirements. These capabilities help the company plan for profitability. “As we accumulate digital data, we will be able to forecast yields more accurately, optimize resource use and strengthen our resilience to climate and economic challenges,” said Alexey Davydov, director of PRODO Zerno.
The unified platform has also been integrated with farm machinery and the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This enables managers to assign tasks to employees precisely and track their completion. The digital twin can therefore analyse crop rotation, field cultivation, agrochemical applications and yields, making it a practical farm management tool.
The technology has already delivered measurable economic benefits. It helped the company identify about 5% of its land assets that had fallen out of use and return them to crop rotation. Preliminary analysis indicates that yields across PRODO Group’s fields will increase by 2%, while spending on fuel, lubricants and crop protection products will fall by 5%. Further analysis of the land portfolio is expected to identify additional unused areas that can be brought back into production.
A Building Block for Precision Agriculture
The digital field twin has effectively become an important component of a broader precision agriculture system. Platforms of this kind are particularly valuable in regions where changing weather conditions make it difficult to develop detailed schedules for agricultural work.
Large Russian agricultural businesses are beginning to adopt similar systems. Rusagro Group, for example, has launched a domestically developed farm management system called Istoriya Polya (Field History). It collects data from cultivated land, helps optimize spending on fertilizers and crop protection products, and supports higher yields. Agricultural holding company STEP uses a digital farm twin platform and has increased grain production in Rostov Region by 15% through precision agriculture technologies. Further automation of data exchange between agronomic systems, 1C and ERP platforms can provide end-to-end oversight of production activities, increase output and lower production costs.
Once scaled up, validated in large-scale commercial operations and adapted to different climate conditions, Russian digital field twin technologies could also enter international markets. Countries across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Global South are investing heavily in agricultural technology. Russian smart algorithms could help them increase food production.
