Govt’s Farmer Registration Programme Reaches 58% Coverage in Four Years

The government is collecting farm-related data under the Farmer Registration Programme to bring farmers under a single digital platform for the distribution and management of fertilisers, seeds, grants and other agricultural services.

Officials say the programme, initiated in March 2021, is currently gathering detailed information on landholdings, crop production, income levels and farming practices to build an integrated national agricultural database.

The Agriculture Information and Training Centre (AITC) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development is overseeing the initiative, while local governments are leading data collection on the ground.

According to Sanjiv Pandit, an officer at the AITC, the integrated database will enable the state to manage inputs such as chemical fertilisers and seeds more efficiently, while also facilitating grants, subsidies and other farmer-focused services through an electronic system.

Under the programme, farmers are issued identity cards after registration, which will serve as the basis for accessing government grants, subsidies and technical services. Officials say linking benefits to verified digital identities is expected to reduce leakages and duplication in support schemes.

The registration system also classifies farmers into four categories—subsistence, small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale—based on income status. This classification is intended to help the government tailor policies and support programmes according to farmers’ economic capacity and production scale.

The initiative draws on data from the 2021 national agriculture census, which identified around 4.1 million farmers across the country. Officials say the final number may vary slightly once the registration process is completed, as additional or updated information is verified.

The Farmer Registration Programme was initiated in March 2021 following a ministerial-level decision, with the objective of bringing all farmers under a unified digital framework and strengthening evidence-based agricultural policymaking.

However, despite the programme’s importance, registration progress has remained largely stagnant in recent weeks. As of mid-November, only around 2.3 million farmers—about 58 percent of the estimated total—have been enlisted in the system. – With inputs from RSS