Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo today chaired a review meeting of the Agriculture Production Department (APD) to assess the implementation and progress of various agricultural credit schemes being extended across the districts of the Union Territory.
Reviewing the performance of different credit-linked schemes, the Chief Secretary emphasised the need for giving a major push to agricultural financing, observing that accessible and affordable credit remains the most effective means of unlocking the vast potential of agriculture and allied sectors in Jammu and Kashmir.
He called upon the district administrations and banking institutions to pursue these schemes with greater ambition and commitment so that eligible farmers, entrepreneurs and producer groups are able to derive maximum benefit from those.
He directed the departments concerned and banks to undertake extensive awareness campaigns regarding the incentives available under the schemes and the conditions required for availing those.
The Chief Secretary also called for expediting “onboarding” under the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) in areas where digitisation of land records has been completed. He further directed the authorities concerned to ensure that these records remain updated in tandem with the ongoing generation of farmer IDs across the districts.
The meeting also reviewed the performance of agricultural term loans and the activities generating the highest demand among applicants. The Chief Secretary directed banks to provide granular activity-wise data regarding the sectors attracting maximum credit demand and to explore the possibility of incorporating such activities under the Mission YUVA framework as well.
Speaking on the occasion, Additional Chief Secretary, APD, Ashish Chandra Verma, presented a comprehensive overview of the agricultural credit ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir. He highlighted the uptake of various schemes among eligible beneficiaries, discussed the challenges being faced and outlined the roadmap for achieving the desired outcomes.
During the meeting, it was informed that Jammu and Kashmir presently has around 11.57 lakh active Kisan Credit Card (KCC) account holders, of whom nearly 3.5 lakh farmers availed the prompt repayment incentive during the previous financial year. It was further revealed that 7.99 lakh beneficiaries have been provided smart cards, while 41 per cent coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was achieved during the kharif season.
The meeting also reviewed the progress of major schemes including the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF), PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME), HADP Credit, JKCIP Credit, National Livestock Mission (NLM) and PM-KISAN.
It was informed that under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, loans amounting to Rs 680 crore have been sanctioned, while Rs 431 crore has been disbursed among 392 beneficiaries across Jammu and Kashmir.
Similarly under PMFME, 545 cases involving disbursement of Rs 22 crore were reported during 2024-25. Under HADP Credit, loans worth Rs 302.78 crore have been sanctioned, of which Rs 172.69 crore have been disbursed up to May.
Regarding the National Livestock Mission, the meeting was apprised that 132 applications had been received. Out of those, 65 cases are presently under processing by banks and 27 cases involving financial assistance of Rs 12.23 crore have been approved by the Central Executive Committee (CEC).
The review further revealed that under FPO financing, credit amounting to Rs 604 crore has been sanctioned in favour of 67 FPOs, of which Rs 425 crore has been disbursed among 54 FPOs across the Union Territory.
