Tummala Meets Bankers Ahead of New Crop Season

 Hyderabad: Agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Saturday held a meeting with bankers at the Secretariat to decide on the scale of finance for the 2024-25 crop season.

M. Raghunandan Rao, principal secretary (agriculture), stressed on the need for transparency in granting crop loans in the backdrop of implementation of the crop insurance scheme.

“Bankers should ensure that only lands on which crops are grown be enlisted and see that the insurance scheme is properly implemented so that it benefits farmers,” he said.

Also discussed was the loan limits vis-à-vis those that prevailed in the last five years. They also discussed the limits placed on expenses during the district collectors meeting for the 2024-25 on 96 agriculture and horticulture crops, including palm oil and mulberry.

The limits for nine activities in animal husbandry wing and 10 in fisheries department were also taken stock of.

The minister directed the officials to pro-actively grant loans in the ensuing rainy season. He reminded that of the targeted Rs 73,439 crore only Rs 49,501 crore (67.41 per cent) were disbursed by December 2023.

Those who participated in the meeting included officials from agriculture, cooperation and horticulture departments and directors of TSCAB, SBI, UBI, TGB and representatives from the agriculture university.