The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Bank loans for unemployed farm, veterinary graduates

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 29, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bank loans for unemployed farm, veterinary graduates

M.J. Prabhu

Farmers can use `biotech agri-clinic' for soil testing

CHENNAI: The State Bank of India has inaugurated a `biotech agri-clinic' for unemployed farm and veterinary graduates in Chennai.

Deputy General Manager W. Chanti Babu said the bank had evolved a number of schemes for farmers, including crop loans. The bank had now introduced a special scheme for unemployed farm graduates.

Providing details, Mr. Babu said a group of five unemployed farm graduates could come together and start an agri clinic. Up to Rs. 50 lakhs could be advanced. The only criterion was that of the five farm graduates, one should be a management graduate, he said, inviting unemployed farm graduates to make use of the scheme.

T. Jayabal, technical officer of the bank, said farmers could utilise the clinic for testing soil, deciding on crop patterns and interact with experts on adoption of integrated nutrient management and integrated pest management of their crops.

The Chief Manager of the bank, S.R. Elangovan, urged unemployed graduates to start agri-clinics as the bank was sanctioning loans up to Rs. 5 lakhs without any collateral security. The maximum limit for a single person was Rs. 10 lakhs.

Explaining the marketing scheme for farmers, Mr. Elangovan said the aim was to help farmers avoid distress sale of their produce. If the farmer was not able to get a good price for his crop, he could take a loan on his harvested produce. The loan was given on the present market value of the produce. The maximum loan under the scheme was Rs. 5 lakhs, which could be repaid within one year.

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