CHENNAI: Farmers can now avail of loans by pledging agricultural produce in godowns registered with Warehouse Development Regulatory Authority (WDRA), which comes under the Union ministry of food and public distribution.
The scheme was launched in Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Coimbatore and Tiruppur last week. Farmers who store produce at WRDA-authorised repositories will be given electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (eNWRs). As per RBI guidelines, 25-35% of total agriculture produce value (up to Rs 75 lakh) can be availed of by an individual against eNWR from banks for 12 months at 7% interest.
Official sources said the scheme enabled farmers to store their produce safe in nearby warehouses and avail of loans from banks against NWRs issued against the deposit of their stock. The scheme aimed at promoting a shorter and more efficient supply chain besides increasing liquidity in rural areas and ensuring better prices for agri products. It would help farmers/depositors access large number of buyers nationwide and have better bargaining power, said a document released by the cooperation department on Thursday.
To safeguard farmers from distress sale and storage loss, the cooperation department constructed 4,044 godowns with a storage capacity of 5,47,100 tonnes at Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACCS) and Agricultural Producers Cooperative Marketing Societies (APCMS). The godowns’ capacities vary from 100 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes each. As of October 31 this year, 1,064 godowns of PACCS and APCMS have been registered with WDRA.
‘Link Aadhaar to get monetary assistance’
Chennai: Agriculture and farmers welfare department has requested farmers to link their Aadhaar on Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KSN) portal to get their monetary assistance for the upcoming quarter. A statement from the department said the centre had said only those who link their Aadhaar on PM-KSN portal on the e-KYC page would get their 13rd instalment of the monetary assistance for the period December 2022 to March 2023. ENS