Crop loans worth Rs 12,010 crore released so far this year

TIRUCHY: The Cooperative Department has released crop loans of Rs 12,010 crore to 15.59 lakh farmers across the state for this year so far, said Additional Chief Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan here on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting PDS outlets in Tiruchy, Radhakrishnan said, a record procurement was made on Saturday with the procurement of 51,307 MT paddy through as many as 2,277 DPCs across the state.

Stating that a loan of Rs 10,292 crore has been released to as many as 14.84 lakh farmers in the year 2021-22, Radhakrishnan said, this year till Saturday, a loan worth Rs 12,010 crore has been distributed to 15.59 lakh farmers. Similarly, a loan of Rs 1,486 crore has been disbursed to 2.18 new members this year. Out of the total loan amount, Rs 1,709 crore has been disbursed to 2.65 lakh farmers in the Delta region, he said.

Meanwhile, Radhakrishnan said, 14.53 new applications for the family cards have been received and new cards were released to 13.56 lakh people and the remaining cards would be distributed soon. Subsequently, he visited the new godown with the capacity of 6,200 MT opened at Adavathur and inspected the storage process. Tiruchy Collector M Pradeep Kumar and others accompanied him.

Earlier, Radhakrishnan inaugurated a direct paddy procurement center in Kunnankulathur village near Madurantakam on Saturday. “In Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts, good quality rice is available,” he said. Of this, 36,000 hectares have been cultivated especially in Chengalpattu district and 1.8 lakh metric tonnes of paddy is expected to be procured, he added.

Chengalpattu Collector Rahul Nath has issued an order for DPCs in 83 areas where rice yield is high. Dr Radhakrishnan said, “We have also advised to set up additional DPCs in accordance with the demand of the farmers.”