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Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004

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National

Farm credit to be doubled in three years

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, SEPT. 13. The Union Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar, said here on Monday that agricultural credit would be doubled from the Rs. 80,000 crore of last year over the coming three years. He was speaking to presspersons after visiting the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research at Hesaraghatta near the city.

Asked about the spate of farmers' suicides, Mr. Pawar agreed that many farmers had to rely on moneylenders and when unable to repay loans with exorbitant interests, they took the extreme step. "We are holding a review meeting with all major banks and cooperative banks to make sure that more farm credit is available at reasonable terms." About the reasons for farmers taking their own lives, he said the situation was not the same everywhere. There were districts in Maharashtra that had consecutive years of drought, but the farmers had additional income from dairying.

"Encouraging dairy farming will be a priority in this Government's approach to agriculture. This will be done in areas such as North Karnataka, Rayalaseema and Telangana, which are drought prone, with funding from the Union and the State Governments,'' Mr. Pawar said. Regarding crop insurance, he said the principle of taking the village as a unit would be carried out from the next crop year.

The southwest monsoon, now coming to a close, had started well but there were lean weeks before rainfall picked up again. "The reservoir levels are satisfactory and we can say that about 91 per cent of the anticipated rainfall has already come. The four-week gap in rainfall did affect crops in some areas such as cereals in parts of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. If the Rabi crop is good, we should able to reach the food production target,'' Mr. Pawar said.

`Yatra, non-issue'

Mr. Pawar, who said, "I don't want to discuss politics here,'' was drawn into doing just that by reporters from the electronic media. Uma Bharti's "Tiranga yatra" is "not a serious issue and the Supreme Court has already commented on its implications,'' he remarked.

"Both defeat and success are common in politics but some lack the courage to face defeat and show their frustration by tactics such as not allowing the Prime Minister to speak in Parliament and allowing the Union Budget to be passed without discussion,'' he said. There were also politicians who tried to create communal tension as had happened in Maharashtra.

About the comments on the Government by the Left parties, he said: "They are serious and we are taking their comments seriously. It is a coalition government after all.'' He did not agree that some coalition partners were disappointed with the Government's performance and asked: "What has happened in the last three months to cause unhappiness to anyone?''

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