About 40% of India's sown area yet to be linked to Farmer IDs: Agri Min

Review of AgriStack and pulses mission

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed the progress of the AgriStack Digital Agriculture Mission and the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses at a National Conference in New Delhi on August 23. The meeting, held at the ICAR Convention Centre in Pusa, brought together state agriculture ministers and senior officials from various states.

Chouhan said the government is creating Farmer IDs to identify farmers and track assets linked to them, including land. "Today, we reviewed two significant schemes of the Government of India. Under the AgriStack Digital Agriculture Mission, we are creating Farmer IDs to identify farmers. The Farmer ID includes details of all assets linked to the farmer, including land," he said.

Coverage gaps and state preparedness

A presentation by senior officials from the Union Agriculture Ministry, as reported by Business Standard, highlighted significant shortfalls. Around 40 per cent of India's net sown area is not yet linked to Farmer IDs, and roughly a third of the country's operational land holdings lack them. Of the estimated 14.64 crore operational land holdings from the 2015-16 Agriculture Census, about 10.42 crore — or 71.4 per cent — had a Farmer ID as of Saturday.

Chouhan acknowledged the scale of the task, saying, "Farmer IDs have been created for 10.41 crore farmers. However, around 14 crore Farmer IDs need to be created. So, all states are working rapidly on this."

State-level preparation also lags in key areas. The presentation noted that 22 states have not drafted a standard operating procedure to shape how they count cultivators inclusively, such as sharecroppers and tenants. At least 14 states are yet to synchronise their Record of Rights with the farmer registry, according to the same ministry presentation.

Chouhan also noted that land parcel mapping work has been slower in some states, without assigning specific blame.

Success stories and state participation

Despite the gaps, Chouhan highlighted several achievements. He said Maharashtra successfully distributed Rs 14,000 crore to lakhs of farmers within five days, while Chhattisgarh performed remarkably well in crop procurement, along with several other states. He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to achieve self-reliance in pulses.

Assam Agriculture Minister Pijush Hazarika participated in the conference and outlined his state's progress in pulse cultivation, including Arhar demonstrations, black gram cultivation, and Front Line Demonstrations. He stressed the potential of rice-fallow areas and the char and chapori belts for expanding pulse cultivation.

Hazarika also raised challenges faced by Assam's small and marginal farmers due to floods and erratic rainfall. He requested priority allocation of breeder seeds suitable for the North Eastern region, a 100 per cent subsidy on certified pulse seeds for farmers in Assam for an initial period of two to three years, and that Assam's small tea growers, who have started receiving Farmer IDs under AgriStack, be brought under the ambit of PM-KISAN.

He further highlighted Assam's initiatives under AgriStack, including high-yield village clusters, post-harvest infrastructure, Custom Hiring Centres, and integration of Soil Health Card data with Farmer Field Schools.

Pulses production and seed distribution

On the pulses front, the ministry's presentation, as reported by Business Standard, showed mixed results. Pulses production saw a 6 per cent annual increase in 2025-26, but 10 states have seen either stagnation or a downward trend in the area under pulses cultivation, with seven producing fewer pulses than a year ago.

The Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, launched in 2025 with a six-year tenure, promotes high-yielding seeds and assured procurement for tur, masoor, and urad. However, seed distribution has fallen short. For the rabi crop of pulses in the 2025-26 season, only two-thirds of the target was met, with 3.1 lakh quintals of seeds distributed against a target of 4.6 lakh quintals. For the kharif crop of the 2026-27 season, the reported figure was only 15.6 per cent, or 97,829 quintals.

Usage of high-yielding varieties also varies widely: seven states reported usage at less than 35 per cent, while 82 per cent of the released seeds were utilised nationally, according to the presentation.

The conference, held on Saturday, underscored both the ambitions and the operational hurdles of linking India's farmers to digital infrastructure and achieving self-reliance in pulses.