Dhaka:The government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, has launched an extensive programme aimed at registering farmers and providing them with comprehensive agricultural support through the distribution of 'Farmer's Cards' across Bangladesh. This initiative is set to cover approximately 2.4 crore farmers over the next four years, with a target of reaching 43 lakh farmers in the fiscal year 2026-27.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the programme is being implemented in phases across 14,180 agricultural blocks in 503 upazilas. It involves activities such as data collection, bank account opening, and card distribution, which began on October 1 in 77 upazilas within 56 districts. The primary goal is to create an integrated database of farmers to facilitate the provision of financial and agricultural input support, particularly focusing on landless, marginal, and small-scale farmers.
The initial phase of the programme has already seen progress, with data collected from 19.25 lakh farmers and 9 lakh bank accounts opened. The pre-pilot phase conducted earlier this year involved the distribution of Farmer's Cards to 20,832 farmers across 11 agricultural blocks, with financial incentives provided to 20,480 farmers.
This phased approach aims to expand the reach of the Farmer's Card programme while ensuring effective management and delivery of services. The programme emphasizes the importance of consistent monitoring and data management to achieve the ambitious target of enrolling 2.4 crore farmers by 2030.