Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank (MADB) will extend the repayments period for its agricultural loans to farmers for the winter crop season by next three months

Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank (MADB) has announced that it will extend the repayment period for its agricultural loans for the winter crop season by next three months for the convenience of farmers.

Normally, agricultural loans for the winter crop season have to be repaid by the end of June but MADB has extended the repayment period to September 15 for this year’s loans.

“The extension of the repayment period will help farmers stockpiling crops to wait for better prices. In the past, farmers had to sell crops to traders and brokers as soon as it was harvested. The announcement of the extension is good news for farmers,” said Free Farmers Association chair U Thein Aung.

This year’s loans were extended for several additional crops, the bank also said in its announcement. The eight additional crops were butter beans, yellow peas, flower sesame and sunflowers, onions and chilli. These crops are export products and have high domestic consumption, and therefore were added to list of crops for eligible for loans, said the announcement.

Farmers would also like the government to provide help so they can breed livestock and plant crops at the same time and earn more income, said U Thein Aung, adding that farmland can be used as collateral, making farmers good credit risks. MADB currently extends loans of up to K150,000 per acre of rice and K100,000 per acre of other crops.

The loans for rice growers was increased from K100,000 to K150,000 in 2016, and other crops from K50,000 to K100,000 in 2018.

Loans are being provided for a total of 22 kinds of crops. Loan applications can be obtained at the community-based loan screening groups and respective township branches of MADB.

In the past, farmers could only take out winter loans after the monsoon loan was fully paid, but since last year, MADB changed the scheme to allow winter loans although the monsoon loans have not yet been repaid. 

MADB provides loans for farmers based on the three main planting seasons in the country - monsoon, pre-monsoon, and winter. 

On another matter, an MADB official said repayments by farmers have been declining since the beginning of 2012 due to natural disasters such as climate change, heavy rain, floods, drought, and pest infestations.

He added however, if the farmers are unable to repay loans due to the damage to farmland, they can apply to the bank to defer repayment with the approval of the village administrators, township Agricultural Department, and the Department of Agricultural Land Management and Statistics. – Translated

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/bank-loosens-repayment-period-farmers.html )

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