Tamil Nadu - Perambalur   

Onion farmers seek enhanced credit

By Our Staff Reporter

PERAMBALUR, SEPT.7 . The need to increase the scale of finance for cultivation of onion was stressed by a cross-section of farmers who spoke at a meeting convened jointly by the Indian Overseas Bank, the lead bank for the district, and the District Consultative Committee, here recently.

They also called for efforts to encourage the cultivation of mushroom.

The meeting was held to work out the strategy to enhance the credit for agriculture and allied activities, following a directive from the Central Government to step up flow of loans to this sector by revising the Annual Credit Plan for the current financial year.

A progressive farmer of Irur near here, K.Veeramani, said Perambalur and surrounding villages were ideal for the cultivation of onion, especially the `chinna vengayam.' Being a labour-intensive crop, it needed exclusive technique to protect from pests and diseases. Obviously, farmers had to incur additional expenditure for purchase of pesticides. However, banks were sanctioning only Rs.3600 per acre for the cultivation of onion, he said and urged the officials to enhance credit to at least Rs.10000.

K.V.Saravanan of Kurumbalur, another farmer, explained the prospects of mushroom cultivation. There was a good demand for mushroom in cities like Chennai.

The lead district manager, R.Venkataraman, said farmers' views would be brought to the notice of higher-ups at a meeting to be held to evolve the special farm credit policy shortly. Officials from different departments and agencies explained the potential of various crops for which more loans could be sanctioned.

S.K.R.Pari, Senior Manager, Indian Overseas Bank, Perambalur branch, said banks could encourage establishment of fishpond and development of floriculture also.

M. Senguttuvan, an official from the Department of Sericulture, said the procedure to rear silk worms had been simplified and improvised.

The Assistant General Managers, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, N. V. Baskaran and G. Santhanam, spoke.

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