Tag: farmers

How Nabard fast-tracked approval time to just 5 days during the pandemic

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As the Covid-19 pandemic starved State governments, cooperative banks and other agencies that depend on it for funds, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has re-engineered its functioning to hasten the process of sanctioning project proposals. This has helped the State governments and other agencies to roll out the projects faster during the pandemic.

“From the time a full-fledged project proposal reaches us, it should not take not more than five days at the head office to get the approval. This has helped the States to fast track the project rollouts,” GR Chintala, Chairman of Nabard, told BusinessLine.

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The bank has brought in IT applications to increase the pace of approvals. “Earlier, there used to be no fixed timelines (to approve the project proposals). Now, it should be under five days,” he said. The bank, which reported a growth rate of 24 per cent in the pandemic hit 2020-21 to reach a business of ₹6.50-lakh crore, has set a target of ₹7.5-lakh crore.

Push for better health infra

“What we noticed is a huge uptick in the demand from the State governments for developing and creating medical education and health infrastructure,” he said.

The pandemic, he said, has highlighted the need for better healthcare infrastructure to tackle the challenge much better. Besides the regular demand for RIDF funds in the areas of connectivity, irrigation and agriculture, the Nabard has seen a new demand for funds from the States for setting up hospitals and medical colleges.

“For the first time, all of the ₹30,000 crore earmarked for the fund had been exhausted during the pandemic year. Seeing the huge appetite for funds under this head, we have requested the Union government to increase the size of the fund. We got the nod to increase it to ₹40,000 crore for this year,” he said.

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As against a target of ₹40,000 crore, the Nabard has already completed sanctions worth ₹25,000 crore so far. “We are confident that we will achieve the target and seek for more funds for disbursal in the next financial year,” he said.

The bank also witnessed a spike in demand for funds under the NIDA (Nabard Infrastructure Development Assistance). “Last year, we sanctioned about ₹22,000 crore under NIDA. Many State governments tapped this fund to set up medical colleges and infrastructure,” he said.

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SBI signs master agreement with Adani Capital for co-lending to farmers

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State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a master agreement with Adani Capital for co-lending to farmers for purchase of tractor and farm implements, to increase efficiency in farm operations and productivity of crops.

Adani Capital is the non-banking finance company (NBFC) arm of Adani Group.

SBI, in a statement, said with this partnership, it would be able to target farmer customers in the interior hinterland of the country looking for adoption of farm mechanisation to enhance productivity of crops.

Co-lending opportunities

India’s largest bank underscofed that it is actively looking at co-lending opportunities with multiple NBFCs for financing farm mechanisation, warehouse receipt finance, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) etc., for enhancing credit flow to double the farmers’ income.

Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI said “This partnership shall help SBI to expand customer base as well as connect with the underserved farming segment of the country and further contribute towards the growth of India’s farm economy.

“We will continue to work with more NBFCs in order to reach out to maximum customers in far flung areas and provide last mile banking services.”

Gaurav Gupta, MD & CEO, Adani Capital said, “Through this partnership our aim is to contribute to farm mechanisation and play a role in improving productivity and income of the farm segment.”

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DBT, no common IFSC for Kerala Bank cause delay, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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A combination of two factors, the Centre’s decision to disburse crop insurance claims under direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode and delay in Kerala Bank getting its own IFSC code, are delaying the delivery of insurance claims of about 20,000 farmers across the state.

About Rs 21 crore to be disbursed to farmers as insurance claims for 2019-20 was returned by the insurance company as the farmers were unable to submit their account numbers and matching IFSC codes. Claims of Rs 70 crore are pending for 2020-21.

The farmers were getting compensation for crop loss due to adverse weather or other factors under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY). Most farmers (60-80%) have their accounts in primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS). Earlier, the farmers were made to open mirror accounts in district cooperative banks (DCBs), and agriculture insurance company (AIC) of India was allocating the lumpsum amount of the total claims from a district to the DCB there. The DCB would then transfer the claim amount to the farmers through the mirror accounts. The DCBs were then giving utilisation certificates to AIC .

However, with Centre’s decision to enforce DBT, indirect transfer of insurance claim amounts became impossible. While trying to upload the claims in the DBT portal, the farmers submitted their account number in PACS and the district cooperative bank’s IFSC code. However, their claims bounced as these two data did not match. The compensation to farmers has not been disbursed for the last two years, said K K Kochumuhammed, president of Kole Karshaka Sangam.

Besides, Kerala Bank, formed by merging 13 DCBs, was yet to get a common IFSC code. “Once our software integration is over we will get a common IFSC code. We have requested AIC to retain the earlier practice till then, and clear the pending claims,” said Anita Abraham, DGM, Kerala Bank.

“We had a video conference on Thursday with Union agriculture ministry officials, and requested them to defer DBT implementation till the amalgamation process of DBCs and Kerala Bank are completed, and they have responded positively,” said George Alexander, additional director of agricultural department.



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KVG Bank launches FRUITS portal

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The Dharwad-headquartered Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB), in association with the Karnataka government, has launched ‘Farmer Registration and Unified Beneficiary Information System’ (FRUITS) portal.

Inaugurating the portal in Dharwad on Monday, Niraj Kumar Verma, Chief General Manager of Nabard, said the FRUITS portal is the first of its kind in the country where in the land and other details of all the farmers in the State are being captured.

In this latest initiative by the Karnataka government, all the farmers will be registered and given a FRUITS ID (FID) number. Using this number, the financial and lending institutions can access the land details of farmers as well as their borrowings and take a quick decision on lending to them depending on their requirements, he said.

Appreciating KVGB for accepting the FRUITS pilot project, he hoped that all financial institutions will be on boarded to the portal soon so as to have a single data source of farmers. He thanked the Karnataka Department of e-Governance, and Canara Bank (sponsor bank of KVGB) for spearheading this initiative.

P Gopi Krishna, Chairman of KVGB, said that this being the latest initiative by the Karnataka government each farmer will be given a FRUITS ID comprising Aadhaar, land records and mobile number. A well organised and scrutinised farmer database will avoid farmers from running pillar to post for availing benefits, he said.

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Kotak Mahindra Bank to facilitate digital transactions on eNAM platform, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Kotak Mahindra Bank announced that it has been selected as a digital payments partner by the National Agriculture Market (eNAM), a pan-India electronic trading portal for farm produce. All stakeholders on the eNAM network, including farmers, traders, and farmer producer organisations (FPOs), will be able to facilitate online transactions through Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Kotak will facilitate trade between a buyer and seller of agricultural produce by providing payment, clearing, and settlement services on the eNAM platform. To allow fast and secure transactions for agri participants who have joined the eNAM platform, Kotak has integrated its payment system and portal directly with the eNAM platform’s payment interface.

BS Sivakumar, President & Key Leadership Team member, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “Farmers will have more control over pricing decisions, more transparency, and more financial support thanks to the eNAM online ecosystem. We are ecstatic to be one of the first banks to join eNAM as an online payments and transactions partner, and to contribute to the country’s agricultural sector’s digital transformation.”



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Yono by SBI Joins Hands with Shivrai Technologies, to Launch Small Farm Accounting App, Farmizo Khata, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Business Wire India

Farmizo Khata assisting Farmers of the Future

Shivrai Technologies, Indian AgTech company, recently announced the launch of their B2C Farm accounting mobile application, Farmizo Khata. Joining hands with Yono by SBI, they aim to help farmers across the country to manage their accounts efficiently, thus cutting down on losses. Shivrai also owns their own B2B brand, FarmERP.

Shivrai Technologies recently coined their 25-year mark of incorporation. Known for their formidable solutions in the space of AgriTech, they are all set to dip their foot into the B2C pool. Through this new venture with Yono by SBI, they aim to make their application increasingly accessible.

Farmers incur massive losses due to the lack of knowledge, disorganised book-keeping skills, and inability to manage their expenses in the most profitable manner. To aid this process, Shivrai Technologies partnered with leading digital banking platform, Yono SBI to help smallholder, marginal, and large-holder farmers by way of a free application. This will allow them to focus on their costs incurred, as well as the bookkeeping of total profits that are in line.

This free-of-cost application will not only efficiently manage their accounts but will also give them a platform to analyse and calculate their profits, losses, and expenses, thus enabling them to make wiser purchase, harvest, and production decisions. It is curated in the simplest possible way for smallholder farmers to benefit from it.

Aapki Kheti Ka Hisaab Kitaab- Available on Google Playstore and Appstore, as well as in the form of a digital portal, this accounting software has a simple User Interface and Experience for its audience. Shivrai is offering this software to farmers all across the nation at no cost.

How Does It Work?

Users can create their profile by entering basic information. Post that, the software will guide them to register their plot by entering Plot details and Crop Information. This software will also assist the farmers in Geo-Tagging their crops. In the next step, the farmers would be required to add their expenses incurred on each plot, along with their income details and profit and loss amounts on the software’s dashboard. After doing this, the software would automatically generate the Exact Cost of Production of each crop as per kg and acre. This would include the Auditor cost, the marketing and housekeeping cost, etc. In the end, the software would create a ‘Khata’ with a complete view of all the transactions in a simple ledger.

Sanjay Borkar, CEO and Co-Founder of Shivrai Technologies commented on the launch of the software, “We are very excited to announce the launch of this application. Inconsistent cost sheets, poor calculations of expenses and income, faulty accounts are a pain for farmers, resulting in massive financial setbacks. Farmizo Khata has entered the market with the sole purpose of reducing these financial setbacks for smallholder farmers, in turn increasing their yearly turnovers.,

Under the umbrella of Farmizo, Shivrai also plans on launching applications catering to various sub-verticals within the agricultural industry. In the year 2021, the brand is focusing on the upliftment of smallholder farmers by way of launching various applications personalised for their use. In the coming months, Shivrai is gearing itself to launch its new D2C application. The app that is in the final stages of testing, would be directly selling fresh fruits and vegetables to end-consumers, bypassing all and any third-party retailers or middlemen. In the next two years, the brand has a target to onboard 2 million agricultural stakeholders on their platforms.

Santosh Shinde, COO, and Co-Founder of Shivrai Technologies stated, “We believe Farmizo Khata will pave a way for smallholder farmers giving them the right support they need to make wise financial decisions. This being the 25th year of the inception of our parent company, Shivrai Technologies, we have some exciting projects in the pipeline. Farmizo is one such project that we can’t wait to share with the market.,

Shivrai Technologies is best known for their B2B Farm Business Management Platform, FarmERP. The platform has its presence in over 25 countries today, catering to stakeholders across the entire agricultural value chain. Their comprehensive platform acts as a solution for various agribusinesses and aims to vastly grow in the future with their personalised solutions.



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Deutsche Bank to lend ₹600 crore to NCDC

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Leading German lender Deutsche Bank AG will lend €68.87 million (nearly ₹600 crore) to the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), a development finance statutory institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, for financing farmer co-operative initiatives in the country.

The loan agreement between Deutsche Bank and NCDC is expected to be signed on Tuesday in presence of Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and other dignitaries.

“It is for the first time a German bank is coming forward to lend us ₹600 crore, which may seem less as compared to the ₹3,000 crore exposure we have to Sumitomo Mitsubishi Bank of Japan.

“But I am confident this would also grow to that level or go beyond that, considering European banks are normally very aggressive,” NCDC Managing Director Sundeep Nayak told BusinessLine.

According to him, the agreement with Deutsche Bank would be operational immediately. Nayak said the funds will be used mainly to support NCDC’s activities around Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). Along with NABARD and Small Farmer Agri-Business Consortium, NCDC is the lead agency for 10,000 new FPOs which will be set up over the next few years in the country.

“In Germany too, co-operatives have played a big role in setting up vibrant sustainable businesses. In India, 94 per cent of farmers are part of at least one co-operative, he said. Explaining further about NCDC’s support to the co-operative sector, Nayak said the corporation has extended loans up to 16 billion Euros ( ₹1,42,880 crore) to co-operatives of various sizes since 2014.

With efficient lean structure and net zero NPA, the NCDC has been able to compete with other financial institutions working in the co-operative sector much more efficiently, he claimed.

NCDC would also sign a memorandum of understanding with Kolkata-based Indian Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. Through this pact, the ICC will help FPOs sell their produce to private sector as well as create capacity building for finding an export market, Nayak said.

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KVGB inks pact with Our Food for arranging processing units to farmers

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The Dharwad-headquartered Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Our Food Pvt Ltd, Visakhapatnam, for arranging cost-effective processing units to farmers through the bank loan.

A statement by the bank said on Wednesday that the vendor will ensure supply, delivery and installation of high-quality, standardised and branded equipment / machinery as per the requirement of the farmer / farmer franchisee and also will ensure purchase of processed products.

After executing the MoU on Wednesday, P Gopi Krishna, Chairman of KVGB, emphasised the need for having MoUs with big companies for technology and marketing. He observed that the lack of such agreements will create problems for marketing agricultural produces. Through the bank loan Our Food Pvt Ltd not only assists in setting up processing units, but also procures the processed materials and sells them to bulk buyers, he said, and stressed the need for involving women self-help groups in food processing and marketing.

Speaking on the occasion, Bala Reddy, Managing Director of Our Food Pvt Ltd, said that the company, in association with the bank, motivates the unemployed, educated youth with an entrepreneurial mindset in rural areas to establish processing units as per the local requirements.

The company purchases the processed product from them and sell the same through its tech platforms. By doing so, the farmer-partners get between 20 per cent and 25 per cent more than the market rate, he said.

Stating that the company, in association with KVGB, is deepening its roots in northern Karnataka, he said: “Our goal is no raw produce should be sold by the farmers. They must instead process their produce and sell it to fetch better prices.”

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