The State government received a major fillip for its plans for diversification and expansion of agriculture sector for making farming profitable with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) projecting the priority sector credit potential at ₹ 1.01 lakh crore for the financial year 2019-20.
The projection for the next fiscal marks an increase of nine % over ₹ 92,747 crore of the current year’s credit flow target fixed under the annual credit plan. Credit projections for agriculture and allied sector is estimated at ₹ 70,965.17 crore with an increase of 17 % over the previous fiscal’s ₹ 62,352 crore.
The State Focus Paper of the Nabard released by Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi projected that lending for agri-investment activities would constitute 30 % of the total agricultural loans. In respect of investment credit, the SFP projected an aggregate credit potential of ₹ 21,179.58 crore for 2019-20, which is 30 % of the total agricultural lending and 32 % above the potential for term credit of the current year.
The SFP stressed the need for early reversal of the declining trend of investment credit in the State where the average value of the asset of cultivators and non-cultivators in rural households was ₹ 13.19 lakh and ₹ 3.8 lakh respectively. This was against value of assets pegged at ₹ 28.7 lakh and ₹ 6.7 lakh at the national-level.
Tank irrigation
The paper elaborated on the need for taking steps to regain area under tank irrigation for which the State government had initiated the Mission Kakatiya and made minor irrigation as one of its flagship programmes. The Nabard had accordingly pegged the credit potential for water resources for the next fiscal at ₹ 911.95 crore.
With farm mechanisation gaining momentum in view of the increased labour cost and scarcity of labour during peak farming period, the paper stressed the need for improving the average power supply to farm sector from existing 1.98 kw/ha to 4 kv/ha to achieve desired levels of crop production as well as productivity. The credit potential under farm mechanisation was second highest under agri term-loan pegged at ₹ 2,833.47 crore.
The paper also lays emphasis on plantation and horticulture, including sericulture, claiming that these sectors offered immense potential to farmers and coupled with micro-irrigation, mulching and post-harvest practices, it could act as means for doubling the farmers incomes, a target set by the Central government for the year 2022.
Agri-allied sector
Detailing about the role the animal husbandry and fisheries could play in enhancing farmers’ incomes, the bank had projected credit potential of ₹ 3,705.22 crore, accounting to about 17 % of the investment credit and five % of the total farm credit. The SFP also elaborated on the advantages of the land development (₹ 527.64 crore), food and agro processing (₹ 1,145.98 crore) and storage godowns/market yards (₹ 1,401.64 crore) and made credit projections accordingly.
