Hyderabad: The State Level Bankers Committee set the target for lending to farmers at Rs 41,978 crore in 2014-15 — Rs 25,888 crore for kharif and Rs 16,089 crore for rabi. However, figures show that at the end of the kharif season, the banks had lent a mere Rs 9, 808.78 crore or 38 per cent of their target.
The banks did not give fresh loans to farmers who did not pay their dues.
After the announcement of the loan waiver scheme by the AP government, most farmers did not repay their crop loans. Those farmers who had repaid their loans were given fresh loans.
This does not appear to have unduly affected farmers. According to the AP agriculture department records, farmers in the state had sown about 90 per cent of the total cropped area.
The state has 41.02 lakh acres for agriculture, and farmers had sown paddy in about half the land. Many farmers depended on private lenders, according to finance department officials.
In Chittoor, AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s home district, banks achieved the highest lending target at 52 per cent while Anantapur district recorded the lowest at 10 per cent.
