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| Corporation Bank to promote organic farming |
| BS Reporter / Chennai/ Bangalore May 08, 2009, 00:27 IST |
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Corporation Bank on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Karnataka State Organic Farming Mission (KSOFM) for the promotion of organic farming in the state. According to the agreement, Corporation Bank will be nominated as the preferred bank by KSOFM for financing farmers and their entities in taking up organic farming activities.
The bank will also assist the mission in undertaking various developmental activities for promoting organic farming by setting up seed banks, marketing outlets, computer training centres, libraries, goshalas among others in all 176 taluks in the state, J M Garg, chairman and managing director, Corporation Bank, said after signing the MoU.
He said Corporation Bank had been focusing on extending loans to priority sector and 40 per cent of its total agriculture loans were extended to farmers in Karnataka last year.
The bank proposes to open more branches in the state to increase their share of farm loans, he said.
“Promotion of organic farming will result in better earning for the farmers and it is good for the environment. The bank is identifying the cause of organic farming as one of its prime areas of concern and is associating itself with promotion of such causes supported by the State Level Empowered Committee on Organic Farming in the state,” Garg said.
Speaking on the occasion, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa said Karnataka was the first state in the country to promote organic farming on a mission mode. The state government has increased allocation to organic farming from Rs 43 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 100 crore in 2009-10 to extend the organic farming across the state. He expressed confidence that with the help of Corporation Bank joining hands with the state government, the organic farming movement will gather further momentum in the state.
Organic agriculture has been gaining acceptance in India in the recent years. Many state governments have been promoting the conversion of chemical farming to organic. Prominent among them are Madhya Pradesh, Maharashta, Orissa, Uttaranchal, Karnataka and Kerala.
The total area under organic cultivation is estimated at 865,000 hectares in the country. Incidentally, Karnataka is the first state in the country to announce a separate policy on organic agriculture.
According to latest information, the organic products market in India is estimated at Rs 100 crore and the exports from India were Rs 350 crore last year. As the operation of the mission extends to the whole of Karnataka, the units of the Mission will use the bank for maintaining their current/savings accounts, for remittances of funds, issuance of at par cheques, DDs among others. The bank will offer them services on a very preferential basis with no charges.
The bank will also make special efforts to propagate the concept of organic farming through the various forums available under the Lead Bank Scheme, in association with the mission, K Rama Murthy, general manager, Corporation Bank, said.
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