Rs. 8,500 crore loan for farmers this year

Bhopal. With a view to making agriculture profitable, the State Government has decided to extend crop loans worth Rs. 8,500 crore at zero percent interest. This will benefit 30 lakh farmers of the state. So far, crop loans worth Rs. 2565 crore 29 lakh have been distributed in Kharif season this year.
The Cooperatives Department has fixed dates for repayment of crop loans availed for Rabi and Kharif crops. Farmers will be able to repay loans for Kharif crops till March 15 and Rabi crops till June 15 at zero percent interest rate. State’s 4,526 primary cooperative credit societies have been asked to motivate farmers associated with them to repay loans within prescribed time-limit.
In previous years, loans were made available to farmers at 15 to 16 percent interest rate in the state. In the interest of small farmers, the State Government reduced interest rate to 7 percent in year 2006-07, five percent in 2008-09 and 2009-10, three percent in 2010-11 and only one percent in 2011-12. Keeping larger interests of small farmers in view, the State Government has now decided to extend crop loans at zero percent interest rate.
Since year 2006-07, the quantum of short-term loans and number of farmers availing crop loans have also been rising constantly. Recovery of loans has also witnessed considerable increase. District banks’ recovery was 68.98 percent during year 2006-07, which has increased to 72.96 percent in 2011-12.
It may be mentioned that Madhya Pradesh is the first and only state in the country to provide interest-free loans to farmers. This is a significant step towards State Government’s goal of making agriculture profitable, which is one of its seven resolves.