Financial institutions, including Kerala Bank, in Wayanad district, should stay away from revenue recovery steps on loans availed by farmers invoking the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest (SARFAESI) Act, Agriculture Minister P. Prasad has said.
Addressing a review meeting here on Saturday, Mr. Prasad said that at a time when the farming community was facing a crisis due to the pandemic, banks should adopt a farmer-friendly approach. The institutions should find out alternative means, instead of attaching property, the Minister said.
The government is planning to execute a grading system for all Krishi Bhavans based on farmer welfare interventions by each Krishi Bhavan as part of making the Agriculture department farmer-friendly, Mr. Prasad said, adding that ‘Njangalum Krishiyilekku’, a campaign of the department to attract more people to vegetable farming, would be the slogan of every household in the State, the Minister said. The project envisages setting up vegetable gardens at all homesteads and constituting at least 10,000 farmer groups in the State.
The Minister also inaugurated ‘farmwinn.com’, a website of Wayanad Innovative Farmer Producer Company (WINFARM), a farmer producer firm engaged in making value-added products from agro-climatic fruits and vegetables. Father Joseph Thomas Therakom, chairman of the company, presided over the function.
