Rs 14 lakh cr loans given under KCC so far: Agriculture Minister

New Delhi, Sep 15 Around Rs 14 lakh crore has already been given to the farmers through Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) against the loan target of Rs 16 lakh crore set for the current year, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Wednesday.

Stating that the benefits of Central government's schemes for the agriculture sector should reach the correct farmers, he said, although funds are not a constraint, "it is the implementation of the scheme which should be proper".

Addressing the conference of Lt Governors/Administrators of all Union Territories, Tomar, emphasising on the KCC drive, said the Kisan Credit Card cover has been provided to farmers even under the shadow of Covid.

The government has been running a campaign for saturation of KCC to farmers since February 2020 to cover all left-over farmers with special focus on PM Kisan beneficiaries, he said, as per a release from the Ministry.

Tomar also said that the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) will help the farmer to secure loans easily for development of infrastructure at the farm gate, and this will help the small farmer in storage and protection of his crop.

He also said that there is a lot of potential in the Union Territories for cultivation of high value crops and oil palm as per global standards.

The National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) was also discussed with emphasis on Andaman & Nicobar. Possibilities for oilseeds crop in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh were also highlighted. The presentation also explained the Sub-Mission on seeds and planting materials.

J&K Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha and his Andaman & Nicobar Islands counterpart, Admiral D.K. Joshi (retd) participated in the discussion and gave an overview of the implementation of various schemes of the central government in their respective UTs.

Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje, Agriculture Secretary, Sanjay Agarwal, along with senior officials of the Ministry, and progressive farmers from all UTs, the release said.