National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development has released a loan for setting up storage-cum-ripening unit to benefit banana cultivators of Varadarajapuram near Thottiyam in the district.
The NABARD has released the loan to the Primary Agricultural Cooperative and Credit Society at Varadarajapuram through the Tiruchi District Central Cooperative Bank (TDCCB). The total cost of the unit is Rs.27.46 lakh.
Apart from a credit flow of Rs.23.70, NABARD has also sanctioned a grant of Rs.1.12lakh, while the balance Rs.2.63lakh has been contributed by the banana cultivators cum members of the society.
Speaking after handing over the loan document to S.Saravanan, secretary of the society, at a function held in the city on Thursday, Lalitha Venkatesan, Chief General Manager, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, NABARD, said that this was the first document being released in the State under its ‘producer organisations development fund' scheme.
She appreciated the joint endeavour taken by the members of society and the TDCCB is mooting the proposal and their sustained follow-up of the same.
“We are prepared to sanction loan or grant for various activities including agro-processing units, value addition in agricultural produce, marketing linkages, and training of farmers ,” said Ms.Lalitha Venkatesan throwing light on various schemes implemented by the agency.
G.Rajendra Prasad, Special Officer of the TDCCB, said that the daily storage capacity of this unit would be 10 tonnes and the produce would be stocked in two chambers at the required temperature.
Compared to the huge volume of plantain being cultivated in and around Varadarajapuram, this storage unit was quite inadequate. However, it would encourage farmers to optimally utilise it at present, and go in for a larger scale storage facility in course of time.
S.Suresh Kumar, Assistant General Manager, NABARD, Chennai and Rama. Jayampandian, Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies, appreciated the banana cultivators' endeavour for the project and assured them of more assistance.
Referring to a plea by a banana cultivator M. Mani for a carriage vehicle for the movement of banana from the fields to the storage unit, D.Solomon Paul Jayaraj, District Development Manager, NABARD, said that the proposal would be looked into in course of time. A banana cultivator, A.Subramanian, said that the farmers would benefit in a big way through the facility.
The society has fixed a processing fee of Rs.8.55 paise for per kg of plantain. Preliminary work on setting up the facility has already been taken up, from out of society's share. The storage unit would start functioning in a month's time, according to Mr.Saravanan.
