Delays in credit plan, Rythu Bharosa, loan waiver hit Sangareddy farmers hard

Farmers were also waiting for the waiver of the crop loans to borrow new loans from banks.

Sangareddy: Even as Vanakalam agriculture operations are picking up pace across the district, farmers are finding it difficult to mobilise funds to spend on seeds, fertilisers and labour.

With the State government yet to release the input assistance under Rythu Bharosa, the delay in the announcement of the annual credit plan of the district was also causing difficulties for farmers in borrowing loans from banks. Meanwhile, farmers were also waiting for the waiver of the crop loans to borrow new loans from banks.

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Amidst all this, farmers in Sangareddy are being forced to approach private money lenders to borrow amounts at high interest rates. Some of them were pledging ornaments of their wives and mothers with moneylenders to get loans.

The lead bank in Sangareddy could not prepare the annual credit plan for 2024-25, which usually would be unveiled during May because the election code was in force. The district’s 2023-24 annual credit plan put the total lending in the district at Rs.7,800 crore. The total lending for the agriculture sector was put at 2,800 crore. Meanwhile, the lead bank was preparing the annual credit plan with Rs.9,000 crore this year, including Rs.3,000 crore for the agriculture sector. The banks will start lending to the farmers only after the credit plan is announced.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Shivappa, a farmer from Nyalkal, said he had borrowed an amount from private money lenders because he could not get Rythu Bharosa or a loan waiver. The increased prices of seeds, fertilisers and expenses on labour were becoming a burden for them. The farmer urged the government to release Rythu Bharosa immediately to save them from the debt trap.