Extend loans to oil palm cultivators: Niranjan

Hyderabad: Telangana State Agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy has asked the banks to extend loans and encourage the cultivation of Oil Palm, which is being promoted by the government.

The minister attended the state level bankers meet here. Special Chief Secretary Finance department Ramakrishna Rao, Secretary of Agriculture department Raghunandan Rao, Secretary of Finance department Ronald Ross, President of SLBC Amit Jingran and others participated. Niranjan Reddy said that Telangana was the leading state in the promotion of agriculture and its allied industries in the country. In just nine years, Telangana has strengthened the agricultural sector and made the farming profession profitable.

"We have reached the first position in the average of agricultural products in the country. At the same time, we started diversifying crops in the state", he said that banks should come forward and give loans compassionately to the farmers who took up Oil palm cultivation in the state. Banks should also come forward to extend loans for agro-based industries and conduct study on the employment opportunities. The government was taking measures to set up agriculture-based industries in each district.