Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will distribute 7000 farmers' cards in Feni on September 17, as the government has set a target to distribute 16.5 million cards among farmers over the next four years, with an estimated initial cost of Taka 681 crore.
Fisheries, Livestock and Agriculture minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid said this after visiting Fulgazi government Pilot High School playground, where the prime minister will distribute the cards, on Saturday morning.
Under the target, the government will distribute the farmer cards among 1.10 lakh farmers across the country on that day.
Simultaneous launching ceremonies will be held in 50 districts on the same day. Bank accounts have already been opened for one lakh of the 16.30 lakh farmers registered under the program so far, ministry officials said.
Under the cash incentive program, landless, marginal and small farmers holding the card will receive Tk2,500 directly through their bank accounts. Around one lakh farmers are expected to receive the incentive on the inauguration day.
Information on another five lakh farmers has already been verified and approved for opening bank accounts, the ministry said.
“The farmer cards will be distributed in each upazila and union, and the card will be distributed among all the farmers within the scheduled time”, the minister told the function.
The government has decided to bring farmers under the card system to make subsidies, loans, and incentives more accessible to them in the agriculture sector.
Regarding the fertilizer stock, the agriculture minister said the country has no crisis of fertilizer, as a ‘vicious circle’ is trying to create anarchy in the fertilizer distribution system.
The program will be implemented in three stages – pre-pilot, pilot and nationwide expansion. In the pre-pilot phase, farmers engaged in crop production, fisheries and livestock, including dairy farmers, will be included across 11 blocks in 11 upazilas of 10 districts.
According to the ministry, the pre-pilot phase of the Farmer's Card distribution program has already been launched on Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bangla New Year on April 14 this year.
In the first phase, 22,065 farmers in 11 upazilas under 10 districts received the cards. Of them, 20,671 landless, marginal, and small farmers received Tk2,500 annually in direct cash assistance.
The Agriculture Ministry aims to distribute Farmer Cards to 43 lakh farmers during the 2026-27 fiscal year, out of an estimated 2.27 crore farmers nationwide.
The remaining farmers will gradually be brought under the program, according to the ministry.
Additional Secretary of the agriculture ministry Md Yasin, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Md Abdur Rahim, Deputy Commissioner of Feni Mohammad Mahbubul Karim, Fulgazi Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Kawser Hamid, Fulgazi Upazila assistant commissioner (land) Soheli Nawshin Protasha, BNP national executive committee assistant secretary Belal Hossen, BNP national executive committee member Abu Taleb, and Upazila BNP convener Fakhrul Alam Swapan were also present during this time.
