Arunachal CM launches two credit-linked schemes to boost agriculture and horticulture sectors

Itanagar, Sep. 3 (PTI): Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday launched two credit-linked schemes in the state to boost agriculture and horticulture sectors and to ensure doubling of farmer’s income.

Khandu said that state-level and district-level committees have been constituted for selection of beneficiaries for the schemes.

He said the district-level committees headed by the respective deputy commissioners and district agriculture officers and district horticulture officers, would select the beneficiaries and submit the list to the state-level committees for approval.

Khandu appealed to the officials of both the departments to stick to the timeline for the schemes saying that agriculture and horticulture departments cannot be compared with other departments as both deal with schemes on a seasonal basis.

“Arunachal has 25 lakh hectares of cultivable area for agriculture and horticulture activities of which only 2.5 lakh hectares have been put to use. If the remaining area could be exploited, the sectors will improve drastically,” Khandu said.

The chief minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a vision for the development of agri and horti sectors in the northeast for which the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC) is under the process of revival.

“The revival of the regional marketing board will tremendously help the farmers of the region,” Khandu said.

He added that the Union Cabinet has approved palm oil mission with an outlay of INR 11,040 crore.

“Slow coverage of oil palm cultivation in the state was due to lack of commitment from the promoters in setting up of processing factories that had led to loss of confidence among the farmers. A MoU with one of the promoters was cancelled and meetings called with the existing ones to fast track the mission,” the chief minister said.

Appealing to the banking institutions to help the state farmers by providing loans in their ventures, Khandu said that banking institutions should go for improving the credit-deposit ratio which is possible only through providing loans.

Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein speaking at the function urged upon the MLAs not to interfere in selecting beneficiaries for the schemes and added that the deputy commissioners should select genuine beneficiaries.

“We should go for quality planting materials and should try to produce such materials in the state. We should try to convert Arunachal as the fruit bowl of the region as well as the country with the favourable climatic condition and suitable land for cultivation,” Mein said.

The two schemes will be implemented with government subsidy, bank credit and beneficiary contribution in the ratio of 45:45:10, for which an amount of INR 60 crore each, has been earmarked for both the sectors.

“The government has earmarked a subsidy amount of INR 60 crore against the newly launched Atma Nirbhar Krishi Yojna (ANKY) in the agriculture sector and another INR 60 crore against the Atma Nirbhar Bagwani Yojana (ANBY) in the horticulture sector under the credit linked schemes,” Agriculture and Horticulture Secretary Bidol Tayeng said.

Under both the schemes, end-to-end holistic approach has been made, covering pre-production, production, post-harvest management, processing and marketing to assure appropriate returns to growers and producers in the state.

The objective of the schemes is to promote credit discipline and encourage banking sector to support ground level agriculture and horticulture activities besides ensuring timely availability of funds.

The schemes can be availed by any individual farmers as well as self help groups and Farmer Producers Organisations (Cash4Day) and if any, individual farmer avails the scheme within INR 1.6 lakh, no collateral or bank guarantee would be required and for self help groups availing the scheme within or up to INR 10 lakh, no collateral or bank guarantee would be required.

The scheme will be distributed across the state and the applicants need to apply at the concerned deputy commissioner office in their respective districts. About INR 300 crore investments would be done in the sector, out of which the government subsidy component would be of INR 120 crore.

The state government during the launch of the schemes also signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with State Bank of India, Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank and State Cooperative Apex Bank, for proving loans to the farmers and SHGs.