Digital Farmer IDs, Crop Survey Now Used for Benefit Transfer

43 mn farmer IDs linked to PM Kisan scheme

- SANDIP DAS

WITH PROGRESS IN farmers' digital identity (ID) generation and digital crop survey (DCS), the government has started using these data for providing a host of services.

These include direct cash transfer under PM Kisan, digital agricultural credit, benefits under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and issuance of soil health cards.

These digital tools are coming in handy to ensure faster and more targeted delivery of benefits and avoid cumbersome paperwork.

According to an agriculture ministry official, under Agri Stack, part of the government's digital public infrastructure initiative, farmers' digital IDs linked to land records, which is similar to Aadhaar, are now used for new registration under the direct cash transfer program PM Kisan, granting agri-credit and for crop insurance.

"We have also started using the crop sown data under DCS to verify whether the farmer has grown the same crop as claimed while taking loans under the Kisan Credit Cards and while applying for the crop insurance," an official told FE.