At a farmer-card meeting held on August 4 at the Prime Minister's Office in the Cabinet Division at Bangladesh Secretariat, Prime Minister Tarek Rahman ordered officials to prepare a complete list of the country's farmers by December.
He said the list must be accurate and transparent, and that the work should be completed through verification to ensure farmers' rights.
The prime minister said the farmer card, carrying a photograph and a QR code, should record the farmer's identity along with information on agricultural production, government support, and farm markets.
Officials at the meeting said the opening of bank accounts for farmers has already begun and that cards will be given to farmers in phases once necessary preparations are completed.
Government officials said the card was introduced so that subsidies, easy-condition loans, incentives and other state benefits reach genuine farmers quickly and easily.
This fiscal year about 4.3 million farmers are to come under the card, and about 20 million farmers are planned to be brought under the program in the next three years.
The meeting was attended by Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Amin ur Rashid and other ministers, advisers and senior officials.