The Covid-19 pandemic has had little impact on the agricultural sector: Tomar

The Covid-19 pandemic had little impact on the agricultural sector and it went well, said Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

He said that to ensure easy availability of funds, the government has issued 2.6 crore Kisan credit cards with a penalty limit of Rs 2.77 lakh crore until November of this year.

The Center has taken all necessary measures to ensure the proper functioning of activities related to agriculture, a senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture said on Saturday.

During the lockdown, the government exempted agriculture and related activities were exempt. “Dealers of seeds, pesticides, fertilizers and other input-related activities have been allowed to open to make inputs available to farmers,” the agriculture minister said.

He said the inter- and intra-state movement of agricultural machinery, especially combines, has been facilitated. As a result, the harvesting activities of the Rabi crop and the sowing activities of the summer crop have been carried out in a systematic manner, he said.

Regarding the availability of credit for agricultural activities, the ministry said during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government extended by six months the renewal date of the short-term agricultural loan, which had become due or would have become due from March of last year. .

Likewise, also in the second wave, the government extended the renewal date of the short-term agricultural loan by six months from March of this year, with a corresponding 2 percent interest subsidy benefit and 3 percent prompt repayment incentive until the extension date, the minister mentioned.