Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Sep 19, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Sep 19, 2003 |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Farm credit Banks see scope in `organic' label L.N. Revathy
Coimbatore , Sept. 18 BANKS see scope in financing in rural areas for products with organic label — such as preparation of farmyard manure and vermicompost. The rural folks seek finance, not just agricultural loans for such projects/propositions. Banks that had hitherto remained a mute spectator to the developments on the organic farm front now swear that agriculture and allied activities would hold the key for growth in the future. Though agri lending is not new, the fall in lending rates has forced the banks to look for innovative finance schemes. `Organic' being the buzzword has caught the attention of not just the health conscious ones but also the banks. "There is immense potential. We at Indian Bank want to finance from the plant to the stomach stage," said Mr Santhanaraman, General Manager (Risk Management), Chennai, told Business Line. He said that the bank intended to step in wherever possible to bail the rural folks from the clutches of the moneylender such as in extending farm credit for rural women, the SHG (Self Help Group) lending concept etc. According to Mr Santhanaraman, the rural people had realised the need to come back to the mainstream to borrow. (The bank has embarked on a month-long agri credit campaign at all its branches in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The agri credit campaign has been timed to coincide with the sowing season and for providing timely credit. The bank's general managers are now visiting various places, organising `Farm Credit Bazaar', and getting first hand information on the potential that is yet left untapped in the rural areas). Referring to the `farm credit bazaar', he said that such expos were not a show, but a feedback, an educational process for the bank to see and understand the requirement. "All that we have to do is create a saleable product. The programme is only a beginning of what is planned for the year," he added.
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