M’lore: Agriculture and Rural Initiative by Indian Overseas Bank

By John V. Tauro
Bellevision Media Network

Mangalore, 22 July 2012: At the Press Meet held in the Press Club  of Maongalore, on Saturday, July 21, 2012, the officials of the Indian Overseas Bank outlined the programmes for Agriculture and Rural Initiative. The officials said that at the end of March 2012, the total agricultural lending was Rs. 19932 crores out of which the Direct Agriculture Loan was more than Rs.16650 crores.

 

 

The officials of IOB said that in all banks, the general agriculture portfolio generally comprises standard products such as crop loans, KCC, Dairy, poultry and pure  investment loans like tractors etc. But IOB has some special and unique products under Agriculture which  include urban horticulture, Sagar Lakshmi designed for fisher-woman, Bhoomi Shakthi, a credit scheme only for women farmers, Bhoomi Lakshmi for financing purchase of land by small and marginal farmers.

 

Besides these loan facilities, the IOB is also involved in certain rural initiative under CSR which include MS Swaminthan Research Foundation which is building 5 ‘Farm Schools’ for teaching farming technologies to farmers with funding by IOB; Max Academy that is educating rural children from various schools in different states with financial support from IOB; Friends of Tribal Society to spread education  in hygiene and health care; IOB Sampoorna that involves in the adoption of 91 villages in various states for holistic development.