SUKANTA HALDER

The Farmers’ Card will be launched on a pre-pilot basis by April 14 this year, with around 25,000 farmers in nine upazilas of eight districts set to get the benefit.

The upazilas are Shibganj in Chapainawabganj, Tangail Sadar, Islampur in Jamalpur, Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar, Nesarabad in Pirojpur, Cumilla Sadar, Panchagarh Sadar, Juri in Moulvibazar, and Shailkupa in Jhenaidah.

The initiative’s pre-pilot phase will be implemented by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), which will build comprehensive farmer database, distribute the subsidy cards, and manage data collection.

Agriculture contributed approximately 11.03 percent to Bangladesh’s gross domestic product in fiscal year 2024-25, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Obaidur Rahman Mondol, director of the DAE’s field service wing, told The Daily Star that farmers will receive various services through the card, including agricultural inputs at fair prices, government subsidies and incentives, access to agricultural machinery at affordable rates, and irrigation facilities at fair prices.

The card will help farmers obtain agricultural loans on easy terms and benefits from agricultural insurance, he said.

Besides, farmers will have opportunities to sell agricultural products at fair prices, receive training, and access weather and market information through digital platforms, he added.

The card will also provide guidance on crop diseases and pest control, he said, adding that data will be collected and the cards distributed to small, marginal, medium, large, and landless farmers.

In addition to crop farmers, fish farmers, livestock rearers, and dairy farmers will also be eligible for the benefits of the Farmers’ Card, Obaidur added.

The subsidy amount is still under discussion but is expected to be around Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,500 for a specific category of farmer for crop production during the upcoming Kharif season (mid-March to mid-November), he said.

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