Viability of India’s farmer ID program questioned over jurisdiction, digital capability

India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has created over 20.5 million biometric farmer IDs as the initiative faces parliamentary scrutiny.

In the Lok Sabha, the country’s lower house of parliament, the ministry was questioned on a number of matters relating to “Digital Identities of Farmers” as India builds digital public infrastructure in agriculture.

India’s government aims to generate 110 million farmer IDs by 2026-27, including the digital identities of farmers from all of its northeastern states. As reported by Medianama, in response to another question, the government stated that AgriStack and the State Registry operate on a federated architecture, which is why data ownership remains with the respective state governments.

The response claimed that this complies with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023 and covers all landholding farmers. In addition, there was scrutiny over the project’s viability as questions observed the lack of reliable internet connectivity and electricity in many rural areas, which would inhibit the adoption of digital technology.

Concern over farmers’ digital literacy was also raised, as NASSCOM data was cited, pointing out that only two percent of Indian farmers use agricultural apps. Furthermore, the issue over whether a single digital solution could address India’s diverse agro-climatic zones and farming practices was broached. Questions also queried if significant upfront investment was required to adopt digital technologies under the Digital Agricultural Mission (DAM).

The DAM currently has an approved outlay of Rs. 2,817 crore (US$324 million) while for the financial year 2025-26, the Indian government has allocated Rs. 54.972 crore ($6.29 million).

Farmer ID creation relies on Aadhaar making the Aadhaar-linked digital identity for farmers, known also as Kisan Pehchaan Patra or Kisan card, mandatory for farmers. A centralized database then closely tracks farmers’ personal and agricultural data, such as crops sown and mobile number, which raises issues over state overreach in the sector.

While proper scrutiny takes place, farmers continue to register to AgriStack. The initiative allows farmers to access benefits from both the central government and state government schemes via the farmer ID when previous benefit applications needed repeated e-KYC processes.

The Times of India reports that the Nagpur division in the state of Maharashtra saw “significant participation” in the scheme with 556,719 registrations. This contributes to a total of 4.6 million farmers registered across Maharashtra state. This is part of the 20,559,196 farmer IDs that have been created as of this month.

The digital identity program is a significant part of the government’s efforts to digitize its agricultural sector, and a major highlight of the 2024-25 union budget. The farmer ID, linked to the Aadhaar biometric system, is a centralized digital identity that can help streamline benefits, insurance, subsidies and other welfare schemes.

Article Topics

Aadhaar  |  AgriStack  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  digital inclusion  |  digital public infrastructure  |  farmer ID  |  India