Nabard upbeat on mid-term review on loans

A mid-term evaluation by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has found that farmers who were given financial assistance in Krishna and Prakasam districts of the state have through increases in productivity and acreage under cultivation increased their incomes significantly.

"Farmers of Krishna and Prakasam districts, who availed themselves of Nabard sponsored subsidy schemes under macro management of agriculture (MMA) programme, have increased their incomes. The acreage and farm productivity in the two districts have increased significantly," said Nabard assistant general manager D Hari.

He told Business Standard another two-member Nabard team was simultaneously visiting Adilabad and Mahboobnagar districts in Telangana.

Nabard had selected the four districts in Andhra Pradesh for mid-term evaluation of the impact of its 24 subsidised schemes, 12 under agriculture and another 12 under horticulture.

Hari's team had collected many samples for study, and after an in-depth analysis and evaluation, it would report to the Central government, which engaged it as consultants also.

Nabard and the state government in conjunction have been focussing mainly on schemes such as cereals stabilisation, technology dissemination, integrated pest management, agriculture machinery, and recovery of soil fertility under agriculture and on use of plastics (such as crates), integrated development of fruits and integrated development of vegetables under horticulture.

He was not free to reveal full details of the information they had collected, he added.

He said the team had been on tour for the last ten days and met the collectors and officials of the two districts, many farmers in each distinct, and other agencies connected with the implementation of the schemes in Prakasam and Krishna districts.

The team has so far visited Devarapalli (Thotalavallur mandal), Jagannadhapuram, K Tadepalli (Vijayawada rural), Velagaleru (G Kondur), Velavaram (Mylavaram), Nuzveedu (Nuzveed mandal) and Madicherla villages in Krishna district.