With a view to create an environment of trust among farmers, Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu today asked banks to be more sensitive towards the needs of farmers.
The minister also urged the bankers to specifically look into issues such as timely provision of collateral and credit to the farmers, skewed farming practices and development of skills of farmers in various sectors.
The Finance Minister, who was speaking at State Seminar on 'Doubling of Farmers Income by 2022' organised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) here, said that audit should be carried out to ensure proper utilisation of loan procured by farmers for the activity for which it has been obtained.
He said the Central and Haryana Governments had undertaken a host of initiatives to achieve the objective of doubling the income of the farmers by 2022, as set in the Union Budget 2016-17.
These included the dedicated long-term irrigation fund 'Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)', launch of electronic national agriculture market e-NAM, 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)' and 'Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)'.
He said that under e-NAM, as many as 36 mandis out of the total 54 have been integrated in Haryana.
It would also promote transparency in auction process and online payment would help in promoting the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on digital payments, he said.
Highlighting that doubling the income of the farmers in five years would mean an annual increase of 20 per cent, Capt Abhimanyu said that this could be achieved only if diversification plans takes place at a great speed and the market produce is made accessible through well-developed and linked markets.
Lauding NABARD for proactively addressing the issues of the farmers, he said that the farmers should be motivated to switch to profitable programmes such as organic farming, agro-based processing and better storage capacity to avoid distress sale and non-farm activities in order to improve their income.
He also highlighted the need to educate farmers about specific farming techniques and the crops which need to be sown as per the changing climatic conditions.
He urged all the stakeholders to work collectively to sensitise the farmers about the benefits of schemes being implemented for their welfare by the Central and State Governments.
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