Digital Identifications of Farmers: Transforming Rural India Through Digital Platforms

Table of Contents

• About Digital Identification for Farmers
• How does ‘Digital Identification’ Assist Farmers?
• The Way Forward – How Digital Identification is Revolutionizing Farming Sector?

About Digital Identification for Farmers

Digital identification for farmers in India, also known as “Farmer ID” or “Kisan Pehchan Patra” is transforming agricultural governance and transparency nationwide. These digital IDs link farmers' profiles to land records, crop data, and government schemes. For farmers, it is a helpful tool which provides them access to subsidies, credit, insurance, etc.

This initiative is a part of the Digital Agriculture Mission (launched September 2024 with a total outlay of Rs. 2817 Crores). It envisages the creation of a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for Agriculture, such as AgriStack, Krishi Decision Support System and a comprehensive Soil Fertility & Profile Map to enable a strong digital agriculture ecosystem in the country. The AgriStack DPI consists of three foundational registries or databases associated with the agriculture sector, i.e., Geo-Referenced Village Maps, Crop Sown Registry and the Farmers Registry, all created and maintained by the State Governments/ Union Territories.

How does ‘Digital Identification’ Assist Farmers?

• Digital Farmer IDs facilitate direct payments of subsidies and welfare benefits (such as PM-KISAN payments) into farmers’ bank accounts.
• Linking personal identity to land holdings and cropping details allows for quick verification, making crop insurance reimbursement and loan approval easier.
• Digital IDs bring more farmers into a formal financial system, helping them access new opportunities and secure their livelihood.

The Way Forward – How Digital Identification is Revolutionizing Farming Sector?

As digital infrastructure grows, farmers are offered an opportunity to easily access market opportunities and input support, narrowing rural gaps, and strengthening rural sectors. As of March 2025, a total of 4,85,57,246 Farmer IDs have been generated. Further, the Digital Crop Survey has been conducted in 436 Districts in Kharif 2024 and 461 Districts covering more than 23.90 crore plots have been surveyed in Rabi 2024-25.

The Government has targeted to generate Farmer IDs for 11 crore Farmers in the country by 2026-27. It is also planned to conduct a Digital Crop Survey in all the States/UTs from Kharif 2025. In addition to that, the Government is also providing technical and financial support to all the States/ UTs for the timely implementation of the Mission:

• Software for Farmer ID and Digital Crop Survey.
• Providing training to State officials.
• Support for hiring human resources for creating a Project Monitoring Unit.
• Providing a Cloud Infrastructure for implementing the project.
• The Department of Expenditure (DoE), Ministry of Finance, has announced a Scheme for Special Central Assistance (SCA) to States for Capital Investment 2024-25 with a total allocation of Rupees 5000 Crores. As of March 2025, an amount of ₹ 1076 Crore has been released to six States, namely Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.
• Further, the Government has advised the States to adopt a Camp-mode approach, under which financial assistance of Rs. 15,000 per camp has been provided to the States to encourage States to organize field-level camps and mobilize local administration.
• To accelerate the creation and verification of Farmers’ Registry, Rs. 10/- per Farmer ID has been provisioned from the administrative fund of the PM KISAN Scheme.

India’s ongoing digital identification journey is set to transform the agricultural landscape, ensuring faster, fairer, and more inclusive growth for farmers all over the country.