Building an authentic database as a direct digital communication backbone gets underway as the government prepares to launch the pledged Smart Farmer Card to deliver multiple agriculture-boosting incentives.

Officials say ensuring transparency and identifying genuine beneficiaries will be the key to the programme's success in modernizing agriculture and scaling up farm produce.

The newly appointed state minister for agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and food, Sultan Salauddin Tuku, says the government would quickly begin distributing the proposed farmer card to ensure fertiliser, seeds, pesticides and other agricultural incentives reach real farmers, as promised in the governing party's election manifesto.

He told the FE that a reliable and updated database would be prepared to guarantee proper and transparent distribution of the aid-to-farmer card, so none is left out.

He said that authentic' data will be the key to making it a success.

The minister hopes the card would play a groundbreaking role in improving farmers' livelihoods and farming

He would work closely with officials of the ministries concerned to speed up its implementation.

"My primary focus how quickly we can start distributing the farmers' card at the grassroots level," said Sultan Salauddin Tuku, former student leader.

Under the scheme, farmers will not only receive government support such as fertilisers and seeds but will also get access to modern crop insurance and easy-term agricultural loans.

The minister believes that bringing farmers directly under state support is essential to ensure agriculture and food security.

The card is part of the digital agriculture reform promised earlier by the BNP before forming the government under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

He holds the hope that if timely supply of fertilisers and seeds is ensured, the country's food -production target could be exceeded and farmers would get fair prices of their produce.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan also explains how the multidimensional card plays out and establishes direct government-to-farmer communication channel.

He said the 'Smart Farmer Card' would be introduced the way similar to the Family Card system. "A pilot project will be launched soon," says Swapan, also a former student leader.

"Once a farmer receives the smart card, he or she will have direct communication with the state without any middlemen."

The initiative aims to reduce the dominance of intermediaries and prevent leakages in subsidy distribution.

The issue was also discussed at an inter-ministerial meeting held at the Secretariat on Monday, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, to work out modus operandi of the new safety nets.

The prime minister said the government is reviewing all related issues before the card launch.

"In principle, this was our earlier decision. We will soon start the pilot project like the Family Card system," he said, adding that farmers would receive at least ten types of services through the card. The package includes agricultural knowledge support, easier access to farm machinery, fertiliser, pesticides, seeds and other necessary inputs.

He said the smart system would also help the government monitor market conditions, production trends and weather situations more efficiently, allowing better planning.

Agricultural economist and value-chain expert Prof Golam Hafeez Kennedy told the FE that launching the programme on a pilot basis is a wise step that needs coordinated action by government agencies concerned.

He suggests four key organisations should play a comprehensive role: the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), and the Directorate General of Food. According to BBS data, around 41 per cent of the country's workforce is engaged in farming.

On average, there are about 15 million farming families in the country of which above 4.0 million are landless.

Prof Kennedy says that alongside the pilot project, the government should assign BBS and DAE to prepare the most authentic and updated database so that marginal landless farmers are included.

He also stresses that many farmers do not own land and work as sharecroppers. All of them must be brought under the database to make the farmers' card truly effective and inclusive.

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