The Union Agriculture Ministry had created 11 crore unique digital identity cards for farmers as of Friday (October 23, 2026), five months ahead of a deadline set for March 31, 2027. The IDs are expected to enable “transparent, efficient and timely” access for farmers to government schemes, bank credit, crop insurance and disaster relief. It will also reduce paperwork and repeated verification, according to the government.

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

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

“Earlier, farmers often had to provide documents repeatedly to access various benefits, resulting in a loss of both time and money. With Farmer IDs, access to several key services is expected to become simpler and more transparent,” the Minister said in a statement, adding that the initiative intends to improve transparency and accountability in agricultural service delivery, and ensure eligible farmers could access government support with fewer procedural hurdles.