ZCZC
BSS-33
JANATA BANK-AGRI-LOAN
Janata Bank introduces agri machineries loan
DHAKA, April 30, 2020 (BSS) – The state-owned commercial bank Janata Bank Ltd has taken an initiative to provide loans for procuring modern agriculture machineries in a bid to facilitate the farmers for harvesting Boro paddy amid COVID-19 pandemic.
The board of directors of the bank in its meeting held yesterday approved a proposal to this end for providing loans to farmers for buying agriculture machineries such as harvesters, reapers and rice transplanters.
The high officials of the bank said this initiative would reduce the agriculture production cost side by side help address the manpower crisis in the agriculture sector and thus help harvesting the Boro rice in due time. Talking to BSS, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Janata Bank Ltd Md Abdus Salam Azad said, “There has been a slight apprehension in the country over harvesting the Boro paddy in due time due to crisis of paddy-cutting workers in the wake of COVID-19 spread,”
Under the present circumstances, he said, it is very much possible to harvest paddy in due time through increasing the use of modern agriculture machineries.
“From this perception, we’ve taken initiative for providing loans for purchasing agriculture machineries like combined harvesters, reapers, rice transplanters,” he said.
Azad also informed that farmers selected by the upazila agriculture rehabilitation and implementation committee or agriculture machineries supplier or a group of farmers would be able to avail this loan.
In recent times, the government has taken initiative to provide combined harvesters, reapers and rice transplanters to the farmers in a bid to facilitate paddy harvesting. The government is providing 60 percent of the cost of these machineries as subsidy while the rest of 40 percent cost are being provided by the farmers.
Azad said the Janata Bank launched this scheme so that the farmers do not face any problem to pay the rest of 40 percent amount.
Talking to the national news agency, Deputy Managing Director of Janata Bank Ltd Krishibid M Zikrul Haque said it has been noticed over the last few years that there had been a dearth of workers during the peak of Boro season.
“This crisis has intensified this time as people are staying at home due to the Coronavirus. So, it has now become quite difficult to harvest the Boro paddy without the use of modern machineries. Under the circumstances, if the farmers get loans for procuring agriculture machineries, they would be able to harvest Boro Paddy in due time,” he added.
Zikrul said farmers would be able to repay the loan in installments.
The market price of a combined harvester is Taka 20 lakh of which the government would provide Taka 12 lakh as subsidy while rest of Taka 8 lakh would have to be paid by the farmers concerned. So, the Janata Bank would extend such loan facility for farmers.
BSS/ASG/RI/GM/RY/1822 hrs .