2.27cr farmer families will get smart cards: Agriculture secretary

The government will provide 2.27 crore farmers with smart cards, aiming to promptly reach them with incentives and other services.

Agriculture Secretary Wahida Akter came up with the announcement while addressing a regional workshop of Program on Agriculture and Rural Transformation for Nutrition Entrepreneurship and Resilience in Bangladesh (PATNER) at the conference room of Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), Cumilla on Sunday.

PARTNER is a project under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Secretary Wahida said all kinds of information about the farmers will be in the smart card and they will be able to purchase agriculture inputs with the cards.

She also said farmers can do their transactions, and would also have no difficulty in availing bank loans.

Besides, 40% of women will be brought under the smart card programme. 

Addressing the workshop, speakers informed that new varieties of high yielding rice will be cultivated on two lakh hectares of land, high yielding pulses, oil, vegetables and fruits will be cultivated on two lakh hectares of land under the project.

Moreover, one lakh hectares of land will be brought under new irrigation technology, they added.

Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Director General Badal Chandra Biswas presided over the event.