The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has taken up a bee-keeping project in Visakhapatnam district to help Girijan families from this year, according to Mr P. Mohanaiah, Chief General Manager, Andhra Pradesh.

He was talking to the press here on Wednesday after interacting with self-help groups of women (SHGs) in the AP Grameena Vikas Bank here. Mr J.R.P. Sreedhar, Regional Manager of AP Grameena Vikas Bank, also participated.

Mr Mohanaiah said 500 Girijan families would be provided equipment and training in Araku valley of Visakhapatnam district and it would benefit the landless Girijan families in particular.

The bank would also take up dairy development programmes in a similar manner.

He said the bank was implementing the seven-year horticulture development programme in the tribal tracts to benefit Girijans.

Girijans, with a holding of one acre, would be provided finance and inputs for seven years to raise orchards.

As many as 38,000 Girijan families would benefitand each family would earn at least Rs 10,000 a month. So far, Rs 140 crore had been spent on the programme.

Watershed projects

The other major project taken up by Nabard in the State was the watershed development programme being implemented in 16 districts at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

He said 440 such watershed projects had been grounded in the State.

The aim was to bring 4,80,000 hectares under the programme.

He said Nabard had provided refinance to the extent of Rs 3,500 crore to co-operative banks and grameena banks in the State for crop loans during 2010-11 and the target for the current financial year was Rs 4,000 crore.

It had provided Rs 2,100 crore in the form of investment credit to the rural sector and Rs 1,230 crore had been sanctioned for the rural infrastructure development fund in 2010-11.

The targets for investment credit had been raised to Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 1,400 crore for the RIDF for the current financial year, he added.

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