Banks to promote profitable crops

Srikakulam: The banks, agriculture and horticulture department officials are encouraging the farmers to grow profit-oriented crops instead of traditional crops. If the experiments of officials and bankers yield result, the face of entire district will totally change in near future.

In all, 30 banks are being maintained in the district of them 22 are in public sector and remaining 8 in private sectoir. All these banks have branches across the district and they are sanctioning loans for cultivation of crops, land development and farm mechanisation under the supervision and guidance of lead bank in the district.

Bankers have been directed to sanction Rs 2,463 crore loans for farming sector during both kharif and rabi seasons in the current financial year across the district. In kharif season, Rs 1,510 crore worth loans were sanctioned to paddy and other traditional crops and remaining Rs 953 crore loans will be sanctioned in rabi.

This time bankers are being directed by the district collector Kalva Dhanunjaya Reddy to grant loans mainly for profit-earning crops like vegetables, horticulture crops and commercial crops as they need less investment amount due to short period of crop. “Srikakulam district has good natural resources and soil is fertile but farmers are habituated to cultivate one traditional crop.

We are planning to change the mindset of farmers and guide them to earn minimum of Rs 10,000 every month on an average through cultivation,” district collector Kalva Dhanunjaya Reddy told The Hans India. “We are stressing on various bankers to sanction loans mainly for profit-earning crops to arrest migrations from the district,” lead bank district manager (LDM), P Venkateswara Rao said.