11 million farmers get a unique digital ID

Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the milestone was achieved under the Digital Farming Mission, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. File | Photo credit: ANI

The Union agriculture ministry has created 11 million unique digital ID cards for farmers from Friday (October 23, 2026), five months ahead of the deadline of March 31, 2027. The IDs are expected to enable farmers to access government schemes, bank loans, crop insurance and disaster relief in a “transparent, efficient and timely manner”. It will also reduce paperwork and repeated verifications, the government says.

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The milestone was achieved under the Digital Farming Mission implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Saturday (Oct 24, 2026). The creation of 11 million Farmer IDs was successfully completed on the night of October 23, he said.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, State Governments and field level officials worked in coordination to achieve this five months ahead of schedule,” Mr. Chouhan said, congratulating farmers across the country for the achievement. The minister described Farmer ID as their own digital identity and an important step towards making agriculture more efficient, transparent and prosperous through modern technology.

“Earlier, farmers had to repeatedly provide documents to access various benefits, resulting in wasted time and money. The Farmer ID is expected to make access to several key services easier and more transparent,” the minister said in a statement, adding that the initiative aims to improve transparency and accountability in the provision of agricultural services and ensure that eligible farmers can access government support with fewer procedural hurdles.

Published – 24 Oct 2026 22:03 IST