Agricultural Tourism
Agritourism means travel organized around farming, small-scale food production or animal husbandry.
Visiting a working farm or ranch for the purpose of enjoyment and education are key parts of this often rural experience.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
"There can be little disagreement that the fastest relief to the poor in India would come from productivity growth in agriculture. This is where nearly half of the workforce is employed. With the share of agriculture in the GDP at about 15percent now, this half of the workforce is also significantly poorer than the other half, employed in industry and services"
Shri Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog
1. Theme of the PLP - 2016-17 : Accelerating the pace of capital formation in agriculture and allied sector
The PLP is intended to provide insight on the potential for development in different sectors of the rural economy, a road map to banks for extending credit to important sectors/ activities in the district and for Government Departments and various developmental agencies operating in the district to provide necessary infrastructure and linkage support for the development of various sectors and also aiming convergence of their plans with those of banks thereby facilitating increased credit flow and overall development. The PLP projections given in this document based on the achievements & growth during last 03 years and unexploited potential will form the basis for banks in preparing Annual Credit Plan.
Brief narration on specific characteristics of the district based on District Profile
Bankura, the fourth largest district of West Bengal is located in the western part of the state, which is popularly known as "Rarh" from time immemorial. It has an area of 6882 sq.km and according to the census of 2011, it has a population of 35.98Lakh. The district is surrounded by the districts of Paschim Medinipur and Hooghly district in the east, Purulia district in the west, Bardhaman district in the north and again Purulia and Medinipur in the South. It is somewhat triangular in shape and lies within 22° to 23° North latitude and 86° to 87° East longtitude. Bankura is drained by Damodar, Darkeswar and Kangsabati along with their tributaries of which Gandeswari, Silai and Kumari deserve separate mention. This district has a moderate deposit of coal and a number of good deposits of china clay, base material for ceramic industry. The district lies in sub-humid zone having total annual rainfall of 1423 mm. The soil is mostly lateritic, light in texture and acidic in nature. The fertility status is also very low. The soil is light and porous in nature with low organic matter and low water holding capacity. However, eastern and southern part of the district is more productive than western part. Rice is the main crop of the district. Besides rice, the other major crops are potato, wheat, vegetable, mustard, summer til.
Highlights of developments/initiatives having bearing on the flow of credit/market making role of NABARD, innovative banking products Introduced
Overall achievement in ACP for the year 2014-15 was 43.54% (Agri & Allied - 42.02%, mSME-38.60% and OPS-98%). Initiatives are underway for flow of increased institutional credit to farmers through KCC from Banks (116956 KCCs have since been issued involving an amount of ~34937.95 lakh as on 31 March 2015), better and ready availability of standard agricultural inputs, restoring soil fertility (Bankura soil being acidic), rain water harvesting, adoption of SRI technology in cultivation of paddy & wheat, cost effective farm mechanization ensuring better production as well as productivity. In this context, Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI), GOI Programme is being implemented in 22 blocks by Deptt of agriculture for different identified crops. National Fiber Mission, WSHG launched by Government of India has assumed added importance and it is in 2nd phase now. As at the end of March 2015, 41308 SHGs have since been formed, out of which 34771 groups have been credit linked. Further, 874 nos of JLGs and 1125 nos of Farmers Clubs have since been formed. 1 FLC under BGVB, at district level and 10 FLCs under BDCCB in 10 blocks have since been operationalised.
The sector and sub-sector wise analysis of the projections made with justifications for variation form base PLP under the major activities under priority sector, for which bank loans are disbursed normally in the district are as under:-
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Crop Loan
Paddy, wheat, Potatoes, Oilseeds (i.e. Mustard, Til etc.), Seasonal Vegetables viz Pulses, cabbages, cauliflower, Tomatoes, Brinjals etc. are financed under crop loan in the district. Of these paddy is the major crop. A projection of ~189985.12lakh has been made.
District Level Technical Committee fixes scales of finance for various crops every year. In the meeting of the DLTC held on 21 February 2015, scale of finance for various crops have been fixed. The same has been circulated amongst the banks of the district for adherence and to avoid under/over financing. Projection under crop loan is based on the revised guidelines of SOF of DLTC.
2. Water Resources
Minor Irrigation is another major activity for which the district has immense potential. This has further improved with the implementation of the "JAL DHARO JAL BHARO" programme of the State Govt through re-excavation of the existing water area which not only helps rise of water table but provides more water for irrigation. However, the bank credit is yet to reach the expected level of requirement. Pumpset, Dugwell, Shallow Tube Wells, Low Lift Point are the activities normally financed by the banks under this sector. A projection of
~3987.78 lakh has been made.
3. Farm Mechanization
Farm Mechanization is a major activity under farm sector for which flow of bank credit is increasing considerably. Tractors, power tillers, threshers, etc. are major items which are financed under this sector. A projection of ~7088.13 lakh has been made. Adequate repairing
/ servicing centers for the farm equipment and machineries may be created under the Government Sponsored programmes and with the direct bank loan.
4. Plantation & Horticulture (including Sericulture)
These activities are also having very much potential in the district as indicated through research and field application that soil and weather of the district suits production of quality grapes, strawberries etc ensuring higher returns to farmers. However, the flow of bank credit to these activities is not encouraging. A projection of ~3108.88 lakh has been made.
5. Forestry and Wasteland Development
The district has a forest cover of 148350 ha including farm forestry by individuals which is about 21.6% of the total geographical area. In view of the huge potential of Bamboo plantation in the district, bankers may encourage financing Bamboo plantation in the district. The area is having tremendous potential on forestry based processing industries in addition to cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. A projection of ~1038.78 lakh has been made.
6. Animal Husbandry
Animal Husbandry is the major allied activity to which flow of bank credit is not very much encouraging. Dairy, Poultry farming and rearing of Piggery/Sheep/Ooats are the major remunerative activities which are financed under this sector. In spite of this, achievement under this sector is yet to reach the desired level. A projection of ~7072.15lakh, ~199187. 9 lakh & ~3583.15 lakh have been made for Dairy, Poultry & Piggery/Sheep/Goats/ Piggery(SGP) respectively.
7. Fisheries
Fisheries is the major remunerative activities to which flow of bank credit is not very much encouraging. Achievement under this sector is yet to reach the desired level. A projection of
~2459.39 lakh has been estimated for this sector.
8. Others (Bullock & Bullock with Cart)
Under various government sponsored programmes financing bullock and cart is a major activity. There is considerable demand for that since average land holding of the district is small. Further, transport in rural areas is underdeveloped and bullock carts form major mode of transport for agriculture and other commodities. A projection of ~1307.36 lakh have been for this purpose.
9. Agriculture infrastructure
Absence of adequate facilities for post-harvest storage, both for perishable and non- perishable agriculture produce, is one of the problems associated with the agricultural production. To ensure that the benefits of various production and investment activities accrue to producers, it is essential to have adequate marketing facilities to fetch remunerative prices. Further, land degradation is another major cause of soil erosion in the district which need to be arrested. A projection of ~29788.92 lakh have been made for agriculture infrastructure.
10. Ancillary Activities
It is an activity which has more potential in the district. The district is mainly producing rice, wheat, maize and variety of pulses like masur, mung, gram, arahar, etc. Good investment opportunities are available in the areas of food processing industries more specifically fruit and vegetable processing, meat, fish and poultry processing. A projection of
~9109.1O lakh has been made under this segment.
11.MSME
With the shrinkage in the size of agricultural landholdings and its inability to support the
livelihood of increasing population, there is great scope for increase in GLC flow to the MSME sector. MSME sector holds potential for creation of additional jobs. A projection of
~99303.75lakh has been made under this sector.
12.Education and Housing
Education loan and housing is the major thrust areas where bank may think of increasing the credit flow. This will in one way help in increasing CD ratio of the district. A projection of
~3558.60 lakh and ~7317.00 lakh respectively have been made under Education and Housing.
13.Renewable Energy
The contribution of renewable energy to the power sector has increased and is expected to increase in the future. MNRE is targeting a huge capacity of renewable energy in India and aims to add almost four times the present capacity by 2017. The Ministry has since revised its target of renewable energy capacity to 175000 MW till 2022, comprising 1,00,000 MW Solar, 60,000 MW Wind, 10,000 MW Biomass and 5,000 MW Small Hydro as announced in Union Budget 2015-16. Department of Financial Services has instructed to all Public Sector Banks to encourage home loan j home improvement loan seekers to install rooftop solar PV Plants and include cost of system in their home loan proposals. A projection oH'380.88lakh has been made under this segment.
14. Other
Under this category i.e loans to SHGsj JLGs, overdraft facility to PMJDY, loans to State sponsored organizations for SCjST, a projection of ~13899.70 lakh has been made.
15. Social Infrastructure
Considering the huge population, the district has immense potential on setting up of schools
/ colleges / pay& use toilets and drinking water projects. Bankura suffers from poor access to social sector. There are uncovered areas where there is no school/colleges/medical centres are there. School sanitation is required to be taken up vigorously since schools are expected to act as the nodal point to disseminate the message on sanitation. A projection of ~856.00 lakh has been made under this segment.