Approximately a quarter of India's net sown area is not yet linked to farmer IDs, and most states have not developed standard operating procedures for categories of farmers. These findings were presented at the National AgriStack Conference as part of the Digital Agriculture Mission and the Pulses Self-Sufficiency Mission, held in New Delhi on Saturday.
During the presentation, which included participants such as Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan, as well as agriculture ministers and senior officials from various states, senior officials of the Union Ministry of Agriculture presented a report on the progress of the Digital Agriculture Mission and the Pulses Self-Sufficiency Mission.
The Digital Agriculture Mission, launched in 2024, aimed to create farmer IDs for 14.64 crore operational landholdings, according to estimates from the 2015-2016 Agricultural Census. As of Saturday, about 10.42 crore landholdings had a farmer ID. Furthermore, approximately 40 percent of the country's total cultivated area still lacks an assigned farmer ID. Farmer IDs are available to all farmers connected to central and state government schemes and form a farmer registry positioned as a key element of AgriStack, or the digital public infrastructure for agriculture.
The presentation highlighted the need to define different types of agricultural producers, such as tenants and leaseholders. It was noted that 22 states have not yet prepared a standard operating procedure that could form a mechanism for inclusive enumeration of farmers. Moreover, at least 14 states have not synchronized their Land Ownership Register with the farmer registry.
Another presentation, dedicated to the Pulses Self-Sufficiency Mission, reported a 6% annual increase in pulse production in 2025-26. However, 10 states experienced either stagnation or a decline in the area allocated for pulse cultivation, with seven of them producing less pulses than the previous year.
The mission was launched in 2025 with a six-year duration and includes promoting high-yielding seeds and guaranteed procurement of tur, masoor, and urad. Notably, in the 2025-26 Rabi pulse season, the target for seed distribution was achieved in only two-thirds: only 3.1 lakh quintals of seeds were distributed against a target of 4.6 lakh quintals. For the 2026-27 Kharif season, the registered quantity dropped to 15.6 percent, or 97,829 quintals. Seven states reported using high-yielding seed varieties by less than 35 percent, while nationally, 82 percent of released seeds were utilized.
Officials from state agriculture ministries and ministers present at the conference explained the reasons for the deviations. Chouhan stated: 'Farmer IDs have been created for 10.41 crore farmers. However, it is necessary to create about 14 crore farmer IDs. Therefore, all states are actively working on this.'