Jain Irrigation Systems, which is engaged in the manufacture of micro irrigation systems and tissue culture plants, has entered into a national level tie-up with State Bank of India (SBI), for rural lending.

The tie-up will help farmers increase their acreage under irrigation with minimum use of available water resource. This, in turn, will increase productivity and profitability, the company said.

SBI has been keen to offer loans for buying micro irrigation systems. In February, SBI has entered into a partnership with the Mahindra group company, EPC Industrie Ltd, to provide loans to farmers who wished to use EPC’s micro-irrigation systems.

Jain Irrigation is to assist SBI in identifying eligible farmers with a requirement for micro irrigation systems, crop management services. The company expects a large number of farmers to be financed through this tie-up in the coming months, given the use of water-saving methods like drip and sprinkler irrigation methods.

The move to saving water is being encouraged by various State Governments.

In 2004 too, SBI had entered into an agreement with the Jalgaon-based Jain Irrigation to fund onion suppliers at the company's onion crushing unit based in Jalgaon.

Though SBI had tied up with Jain Irrigation for meeting the financial needs of the farmers under the company’s contract farming scheme, it was not just restricted to onion farming. The bank said it was also considering similar tie-ups for grape farming, banana cultivation and for medicinal plants with other companies.

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