Online portal for farm loan

Govt launched an online platform which seamlessly enables farmers to get bank loans for the next crop against their agricultural produce stocked with godowns registered with Warehouse Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA).

This facility to obtain post-harvest loans from banks against the stock is expected to help farmers avoid distress sale of fresh harvest and curtail dependence on money lenders.

The digital gateway — e-Upaja Kisaan Nidhi — launched by food and consumer affairs minister Piyush Goyal allows farmers to avail loan at 7% interest rate for 6-7 months and thereby enables them to decide when to sell their stocked produce to get a good price. The online gateway has been developed jointly by the departments of food and financial services, and Nabard.

So far 5,634 warehouses are registered with WDRA and more are being added every year.

Goyal said this would help increase farmers’ income and make agriculture an attractive proposition. He also announced that the WDRA would soon lower the security deposit paid by the warehouse owner from the current 3% to 1% of the value of stock. The minister added that under this mechanism farmers will easily get loans without any collateral.