The Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) of women in Kozhikode district will take up cultivation in fallow land under a new central scheme.
Initiative
The District Kudumbasree Mission has taken the initiative to bring the JLGs together to take up cultivation of mainly paddy and vegetables under the central scheme of Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP).
Fallow land under the possession of the State Government could be utilised for the farming ventures.
According to District Kudumbasree Mission officials, approved JLGs, each comprising 4-10 women farmers, will be able to get loans under the scheme at a nominal interest rate of one per cent from select banks.
Project
The project is being implemented with the support of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) and it is likely to benefit more than 4,600 JLGs in the district. These women groups are now active in 63 grama panchayats in the district.
The project will be linked to the ongoing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS).
Each group can obtain a credit of up to Rs 1 lakh after the approval from the Kudumbasree Mission. The amount should be paid back within a year. The workforce of MNREGS can be used to prepare the barren lands for cultivation.
The Kudumbasree officials said that the women entrepreneurs working in the vegetable farming sector had been making a good profit by catering to the local market requirements.