No farmer to miss benefits: Agriculture minister

Patna: State’s agriculture minister Ram Kripal Yadav on Wednesday said no farmer would be deprived of the benefits of agricultural schemes for not being registered under the Farmer Registry.“We will not leave any farmer out of the ambit of the ‘Farmer Registry’ and no one will be deprived of the benefits of Union govt schemes. The department is completely taking care of farmers’ interests,” Yadav said during a press conference held here.Reiterating his commitment to increasing agricultural income and making agriculture an honourable profession, Yadav said the department has so far prepared farmer IDs of 45 lakh farmers under the ‘AgriStack’ scheme.The department will continue to organise camps for generating farmer IDs, he said, adding that farmers can also apply online for ID cards or get them made at ‘Vasudha Kendras’ in their respective areas.The Farmer Registry was launched as a key initiative. Under this system, a unique farmer ID is created for each farmer to enable them to avail the benefits of various schemes run by the Centre and the state govts.Outlining his vision of making farmers prosperous and developing Bihar (Samridh Kisan, Viksit Bihar), Yadav said that he, along with officials, would undertake field visits to districts and meet farmers soon after the conclusion of the Bihar legislative assembly session, and would attempt to resolve their problems at the ground level.Asserting that there would be no shortage of fertiliser in the state, the minister warned those involved in black marketing. He said, “We gave strict orders to carry out raids to check black marketing of fertiliser. For this, flying squads were constituted at headquarters level. As a result, 104 FIRs were lodged against fertiliser shops as of Feb 17, 2026, whereas licences of 419 fertiliser shops were cancelled.”Yadav said that as part of the State’s Agriculture Road Map-4, the govt has set a target of establishing at least one ‘Bazar Samiti’ in each district. A total of 54 ‘Bazar Samitis’ will be set up across the state. At present, 22 ‘Bazar Samitis’ are functional, while the remaining 32 will be opened in phases by 2028, that is, by the end of the fourth Agriculture Roadmap.Renovation work has already begun in the existing 22 ‘Bazar Samitis’. Of these, seven were inaugurated by CM Nitish Kumar after renovation.The minister was accompanied by agriculture department principal secretary Narmdeshwar Lal, agriculture director Saurabh Suman Yadav, director (horticulture) Abhishek Kumar, director (marketing) Shailendra Kumar, and other senior officials.