January 8, 2014
India's poultry farmers request moratorium on loan repayments
Poultry farmers in India's Andhra Pradesh have sought for a moratorium of one year for payment of interest and principal by rescheduling of their loans.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has received a letter from the Andhra Pradesh Poultry Federation, which represents about 25,000 farmers, seeking his help in bailing them out financially.
"The sector is in dire need of financial help for working capital requirements. The cost of feed has gone up significantly. Despite several requests, including from the State Government, banks have not reacted positively," Andhra Pradesh Poultry Federation President D. Sudhakar said.
He reminded the Chief Minister in his letter about a request made by him to bankers on extending financial assistance to the sector. He said the federation also made an appeal to the State-Level Bankers Committee, highlighting the issues and explaining to them the need for a moratorium on repayments at least by a year. "We also asked them to sanction need-based working capital requirements in the backdrop of raising feed prices," Sudhakar said.
