The Hindu : Front Page : Financial assistance for urban horticulture

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Sunday, Jul 26, 2009
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Financial assistance for urban horticulture

Staff Reporter

For salaried persons and professionals
Move to encourage and facilitate kitchen garden

TIRUNELVELI: If you are planning to beautify your home with a kitchen garden or roof garden with fruits and vegetables, you can get financial assistance from Indian Overseas Bank.

According to the Senior Regional Manager, IOB, S. Ramadoss, many independent houses, bungalows, guest houses, offices and private institutions in the urban areas have an open space inside the compound and on the terrace, which can be used for horticultural purposes like raising kitchen garden, flower garden, small orchards or roof gardens.

Indian Overseas Bank has introduced the scheme for urbanites, especially for salaried persons, professionals and businessmen with a steady income. This is more suited for housewives in urban area.

The scheme is basically intended to encourage and facilitate kitchen garden or decorative horticulture to be undertaken by owners of the houses, occupants and housewives.

The objective is to extend retail credit facility on easy terms for raising such gardens. Individuals should possess an independent house having at least 500 square feet of open space for gardening. For raising roof garden, similar area of open unencumbered roof space must be available. Privately owned schools, offices, guest houses, hospitals and hotels having at least 1,000 square feet of open space for gardening are eligible. The maximum loan amount is Rs.10,000 for every 1,000 square feet of garden space.

Use of farmyard manure, bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides and vermicompost is advocated with an aim of avoiding use of inorganic chemicals as part of this eco-friendly cultivation. This attempt will reduce pollution in the atmosphere as the project is mainly aimed to be implemented in cities. Drip irrigation is recommended as part of water conservation measures since the cultivator may save up to 40 per cent of water.

Indian Overseas Bank, the Lead Bank of the district, is taking steps to rope in voluntary organisations, NGOs, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Department of Horticulture, apart from its own Rural Training Centre for conducting sensitisation programme and to start the venture, said Mr. Ramadoss on Saturday.

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