New Delhi, October 24: The Centre has created 11 crore Farmer IDs, five months before the 31 March 2027 deadline, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Saturday.
The target was reached on the night of 23 October under the Digital Agriculture Mission, which is run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set the March 2027 deadline. Chouhan said the ministry, state governments and field officials worked together to finish early.
What the Farmer ID does
The Farmer ID is a unique digital identity for each farmer. According to the ministry, it is meant to give farmers quicker and more transparent access to government schemes, bank credit, crop insurance and disaster relief, with less paperwork and fewer repeated checks.
Chouhan said farmers have often had to submit the same documents again and again for different schemes, losing both time and money. The ministry expects the ID to make these services simpler:
- bank loans and Kisan Credit Cards, with less repeated document verification;
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, where the assessment of crop losses and payment into farmers’ bank accounts should become more transparent;
- disaster relief, which should reach eligible farmers faster; and
- procurement at Minimum Support Price, where the digital system is expected to cut out middlemen.
More than 6 crore farmers covered
The Digital Agriculture Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet on 2 September 2024. More than 6 crore farmers have so far received direct benefits under various schemes through Farmer ID-based delivery, the ministry said. Linking a verified farmer database to agricultural services is helping to stop fraud and duplicate verification and is improving coordination between departments, it added.
States and Union Territories are taking steps, within the applicable rules, to bring tenant farmers and actual cultivators on to the platform so that no eligible farmer is left out of welfare schemes.
Chouhan called the result an example of cooperative federalism and thanked officials at the central, state, district and village levels. He urged farmers to use the system to claim the benefits they are entitled to.
Related: Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches upgraded Agri Welfare Portal for farmers