The government began distributing Farmer Cards across the country on Thursday, 1 October, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman opening the programme during a visit to Feni district.

What farmers receive

Each farmer receiving a card in the first phase also gets Tk 2,500 as agricultural input assistance, to help pay for seed, fertiliser and other needs. Officials say the card is intended to give genuine farmers easier and more transparent access to government services, inputs, incentives and other support.

Agriculture and Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid said 4.3 million farmers would receive the card this year and that the government aims to cover all farmers in the country within two and a half to three years. On the opening day, 100,047 farmers received the cash support in the pilot phase, which covers 77 upazilas in 56 districts.

Launch events

In Feni, the Prime Minister handed out farmer cards and family cards and distributed honoraria to staff of religious institutions at the Fulgazi Government Pilot High School ground. Other districts joined the launch by video link. In Thakurgaon, 2,137 farmers from two agricultural blocks received cards and the cash support at an event at the Nargun High School ground in Sadar upazila.

During the same visit, the Prime Minister opened the first phase of the Muhuri-Kohua flood control, drainage and irrigation rehabilitation project in Parshuram upazila, and switched on rooftop solar systems on government buildings in Chhagalnaiya, Parshuram and Fulgazi upazilas. The three installations have a combined capacity of 960.8 kilowatts and feed electricity into the national grid. They were implemented by the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board and Feni Palli Bidyut Samity.

What it means for Munshiganj

Munshiganj is one of the country's leading potato-growing districts, and many households in Bikrampur depend on farming along the Padma, Dhaleshwari and Meghna. The government has not yet published a district-by-district schedule for the next phases. Farmers who want to know when the scheme will reach their area can ask at their upazila agriculture office.

Sources: moa.gov.bd, dae.gov.bd, reb.gov.bd, feni.gov.bd