After the Reserve Bank of India raised queries over the need for rescheduling of crop loans when the districts in Andhra Pradesh reported good yields despite the natural calamities, government sources pointed out anomalies in the apex bank observations.
Though the RBI cited the data uploaded by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics related to the yields of paddy as well as cash crops in the State last year, 2013-14, government is writing back by furnishing the district-wise average crop yield data of last five years from 2008-09 and 2012-13 and the yield in the best agricultural year (2009-10) and the yield in 2013-14 when natural calamities struck.
The correct method is to compare the yields with the normal monsoon years and a bad year in each district rather than taking the statistics for the State as a whole, sources explained.
For instance East and West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur considered the rice bowl, average yield in last five years was 2,495 kg per hectare, in the best year it was 3,050 kg a hectare but in 2013-14 it was 1,846 kg a hectare. The paddy crop yield last year registered significant fall, they added.
At the same time inflation, input cost rose steeply during the last five years causing distress to the farmers. Moreover the peculiarity of united Andhra Pradesh was it suffered simultaneously drought and cyclone in different regions. Government also was puzzled over RBI’s intimation that “agriculture gold loans” would not be covered as there was no such category. It would be either agricultural loans or gold loans. The gold loans taken for agricultural purposes should be considered as crop loans as it was the banks that allowed crop loans against gold mortgage and the RBI even sanctioned interest subvention.
The AP government requested for rescheduling of crop loans availed by farmers in the affected 575 mandals out of 661 mandals from April 1 to December 31, 2013.