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Farmers not taking up bank's offer of extra loans
The number of farmers taking out loans from the Agriculture Promotion Bank is expected to remain stable this dry season, despite the fact that the bank has approved more credit than last year in the wake of widespread flooding.
The bank had expected to issue around 160 billion kip in loans to farmers so they could afford to plant dry season crops but now expect to loan less, the bank's Credit and Marketing Division Chief Mr Bounyou Meuangmahavong told the Vientiane Times on Wednesday.
The bank will stop issuing loans this month as most farmers have already finished planting their dry season crops.
Last dry season, the bank approved the release of about 128 billion kip in loans to farmers to grow rice and other crops, but in the end loaned only 86.4 billion kip or 87 percent of the figure projected.
In the wet season planting that followed, the bank released 64.4 billion kip or only 40 percent of what they had expected to loan farmers to grow rice and other crops.
Mr Bounyou said fewer farmers had borrowed money from the bank this year, as some had sufficient savings to buy their own seed stock and equipment.
Other farmers were borrowing money from other business units that were able to offer better terms and conditions and lower rates of repayment, Mr Bounyou said.
However, the bank will allow farmers to delay loan repayments after communities in central and southern provinces suffered major crop losses during tropical storms Haima and Nock-Ten in the rainy season.
Instead, the bank will ask flood-affected farmers to repay their loans after they have harvested their dry season crops.
Rice farmers and livestock breeders who borrowed money from the bank in Khammuan, Savannakhet and Champassak provinces have suffered losses in excess of 15.3 billion kip due to the flooding, Mr Bounyou explained.
The bank has released more loans to farmers in each of the three provinces to finance crop production and livestock breeding this season, he said.
This year's dry season rice crop will be less than the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry had hoped for, as there was limited funding to repair damage to irrigation systems, which will limit the amount of land that can be planted.
The ministry had planned for farmers to grow crops on 135,000 hectares this year, but irrigation schemes can currently only supply water to about 115,000 hectares, Irrigation Department Acting Director General Mr Douangxay Xinnachak said.
Some farmers plan to grow crops that require less water, such as watermelons, particularly in Nongbok district in Khammuan province and some areas of Savannakhet province.
vientiane times
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