Published: March 5, 2026, 04:31 PM
Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock and Food Minister Mohammad Amin-ur Rashid on Wednesday announced that the government has decided to launch the much-anticipated Farmer Card initiative ahead of Pohela Boishakh.
The Minister made the remarks while speaking to reporters after a committee meeting on the Farmer Card program with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the chair at the Secretariat.
“We are planning to begin by Pohela Boishakh and hope we will be able to do so. Initially, it will be introduced as a pilot project,” he said.
In the first phase, the initiative will be rolled out in nine upazilas, with activities beginning in one selected union under each upazila. The program will be implemented on a trial basis in those specific unions before broader expansion.
According to Amin-ur Rashid, the Farmer Card will prioritise marginal and extremely small-scale farmers. The card will ensure various benefits for farmers, with special provisions at the outset for marginal farmers. The system is expected to function in a manner similar to a family card scheme.
He said the primary objective of the Farmer Card is to bring data related to agricultural production, consumers, farmland, products and crop varieties under a systematic framework. The initiative is designed to make it easier for farmers to access government support while enabling authorities to maintain accurate and updated information on the agriculture sector.
The Minister also noted that the meeting discussed the possibility of providing free fertilizer and seeds. However, no final decision has been made on whether extremely poor and marginal farmers will receive those benefits.
Amin-ur Rashid emphasized that only individuals directly engaged in agricultural production will be recognized as farmers under the project. Establishing a reliable database of genuine and active farmers remains one of the key goals of the initiative.
