Crop loan target ₹7,000 cr.

Confident of a successful samba season in delta districts, Minister for Cooperation Sellur K. Raju on Monday said that crop loans to the tune of ₹7,000 crore would be extended to farmers this year.


Chairing a meeting to review disbursement of crop loans to the farmers in eight districts including Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Cuddalore and Tiruvarur, Mr. Raju said that out of ₹7,000 crore, a sum of ₹1,792 crore has already been disbursed to 3 lakh farmers up to September 30. In delta districts, ₹132 crore has been disbursed so far.

Mr. Raju said the State government had announced a ₹41.15 crore samba package as an incentive to delta farmers. The farmers should sow certified seeds of short- and medium-term varieties and shun-long term paddy varieties. The cooperative department had a stock of 570 tonnes of paddy seeds in delta districts, he said.

To a question, the Minister said the department could not achieve the crop loan target last year due to unprecedented drought. However, the State had received above-normal rainfall during this southwest monsoon.

The northeast monsoon was also expected to be bountiful.

Hence, farmers would have a successful crop season, he said and added that the department had stocked up 1.41 lakh tonnes of fertilisers in delta districts.

Instructions have been given to the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACCS) to sanction crop loans to all eligible farmers. Fresh loans would be extended even to farmers who have not yet repaid their previous loan. Each PACS has been set a crop loan target.

Later, the Minister reviewed the progress on credit disbursal and the sale of certified seeds and fertilisers with the Joint Registrars of various districts and Managing Directors of Cooperative Banks.

Minister for Tourism Vellamandi N. Natarajan, Minister for Backward Class S. Valarmathi, Registrar of Cooperative Societies A. Gnanasekaran and Collector K. Rajamani participated.

Earlier, Mr. Raju said that eight more farm fresh outlets and a mobile farm fresh outlet would be opened shortly in Tiruchi district.

Inaugurating a fair price shop at Mahalakshmi Nagar, he said that there were 79 farm fresh outlets in the State.

The outlets had transacted business to the tune of ₹81 crore up to September 30. It has been decided to open 8 more farm fresh outlets in Tiruchi district. Sites were identified for setting up of new outlets.

Similarly, Mr. Raju said that there were 111 Amma pharmacies and 178 Cooperative medical stores in the State.

The total business has gone up to ₹561 crore. In Tiruchi district, 12 pharmacies had transacted business to the tune of ₹22 crore.

On distribution of smart cards instead of family cards, the Minister said a few complaints were received on information printed on the cards. Steps have been taken to avoid mistakes in providing family profile on smart cards.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/crop-loan-target-7000-cr/article19832615.ece