In a major milestone for digital agriculture, the Government of India has achieved its target of creating 11 crore Farmer IDs, five months ahead of the March 31, 2027 deadline. Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, described the achievement as a significant step towards realising Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India with prosperous farmers.
The milestone has been achieved under the Digital Agriculture Mission implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. The Farmer ID initiative is designed to provide farmers with a unique digital identity, enabling transparent, efficient and timely access to government schemes, bank credit, crop insurance and disaster relief, while reducing paperwork and repeated verification.
Target achieved five months ahead of schedule
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the creation of 11 crore Farmer IDs was successfully completed by the night of October 23. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had set March 31, 2027, as the deadline for achieving this target. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, state governments and field-level officials worked in coordination to achieve it five months ahead of schedule. He congratulated farmers across the country on the achievement, describing the Farmer ID as their own digital identity and an important step towards making agriculture more efficient, transparent and prosperous through modern technology.
Reduced paperwork and more transparent delivery of benefits
Chouhan said the Farmer ID system would significantly reduce the need for farmers to repeatedly visit government offices and banks or submit the same documents for different schemes. Earlier, farmers often had to provide documents repeatedly to access various benefits, resulting in a loss of both time and money. With Farmer IDs, access to several key services is expected to become simpler and more transparent.
Bank loans and Kisan Credit Card: The loan process will become easier, reducing the need for repeated document verification.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: In the event of natural disasters or crop losses, the assessment of compensation and its disbursement will be carried out through a more transparent process, with payments made directly into farmers’ bank accounts.
Disaster relief assistance: Relief during emergencies will reach genuine and eligible farmers more quickly.
Crop procurement at Minimum Support Price (MSP): The digital system will help eliminate the role of intermediaries in the procurement process and ensure that farmers receive the full value due for their produce.
The initiative is intended to strengthen transparency and accountability in agricultural service delivery, ensuring that eligible farmers can access government support with fewer procedural hurdles.
More than 6 crore farmers have already received benefits
The Digital Agriculture Mission was launched following the Union Cabinet’s approval on September 2, 2024. The Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) being developed under the mission is already showing results on the ground. Through the Farmer ID-based service delivery system, more than 6 crore farmers across the country have so far received direct benefits under various schemes. Linking a verified farmer database with agricultural services is helping eliminate fraud and the need for duplicate verification. It has also improved coordination among government departments and strengthened policy formulation and the monitoring of schemes, making it easier to track their implementation and delivery of benefits.
A strong example of cooperative federalism
Chouhan credited the achievement to the collective efforts of the Central and state governments, calling it an outstanding example of cooperative federalism. He congratulated and thanked officials of the Central Government, state governments, Union Territory administrations, district-level teams and field personnel working across villages for their contribution to achieving the target ahead of schedule. States and Union Territories are also taking specific steps, in accordance with applicable rules, to bring tenant farmers and actual cultivators onto the digital platform. The objective is to ensure that no eligible farmer is left out of the government’s welfare and support programmes.
Technology to transform Indian agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare remains committed to strengthening the Farmer Registry in line with the principle of Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. Farmer ID is not just a digital identity document; it is a strong foundation for a transparent, accountable and farmer-centric system of governance. By creating a verified digital identity for farmers, the initiative aims to improve the delivery of agricultural services and ensure that government support reaches the intended beneficiaries efficiently. Congratulating farmers across the country, Chouhan urged them to embrace modern technology, avail themselves of the schemes and benefits they are entitled to without unnecessary difficulties, and contribute to taking Indian agriculture to new heights. He said the achievement marked an important step towards building a modern agricultural ecosystem in which technology serves farmers’ interests and supports the vision of a developed India.
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