National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) will launch 3,000 Farmers’ Clubs across Uttar Pradesh in the current fiscal.
These are expected to act as catalyst to boost agriculture production in the state.
More than 7,500 clubs were already working in the state, Nabard chief general manager D P Misra said.These bodies work as extended arms of Nabard. According to statistics, the villages having intervention of Farmers’ Clubs are zero Non Performing Assets (NPA) villages for the Bank.
Meanwhile, Nabard is working towards appointing the club members as Business Facilitators and Business Correspondents to achieve the target of 100 per cent financial inclusion.
“The programme has proved to be a strong instrument of development in rural areas,” Misra added. This scheme has been sponsored by Prathma Bank, India’s first Regional Rural Bank (RRB). Nabard provides grant to these clubs for sustainability and ‘meet with expert’ programmes. During 2008-09, it released a grant of Rs 68 lakh towards various promotional progarmmes organised through the clubs.