LEAF to provide marginalized farmers with much-needed organized credit

To address the COVID-19 crisis, Lawrencedale Agro Processing India (LEAF) announced on Wednesday that it is taking in Rs 500 crore in organized cost-effective credit to marginalized small land-hold and tribal farmers.

LEAF, an integrated agri-services provider, announced that it is partnering with new-age financial technology non-banking financial firms (NBFC) to help marginalized farmers access much-needed organized credit. Farmers in the Western and Eastern Ghats of South India who are marginalized do not have convenient access to organized assistance.

In a release, LEAF Founder and Chief Executive Officer Palat Vijayaraghavan said marginalized farmers are struggling to harvest standing crops due to a labor shortage. Compounding this is the limited operation of wholesale markets, which has farmers fearful of the worst.

"We're dealing with these issues by organizing farming labor in accordance with all safety protocols and liquidating the aggregated harvest on behalf of farmers in big wholesale markets," he said in a statement. According to him, the company is ensuring that farm inputs are delivered to farm gates in remote areas of the Western and Eastern Ghats by organized credit.

"The farm must be tended to and prepared for the next crop after the harvest is liquidated. During these difficult times, access to farming inputs such as soil enrichment, plants, crop safety, and crop nutrition is difficult to come by "Added he.

In addition, LEAF is establishing 25 Farmer Service Centers in areas where indigenous and marginalized farmers are concentrated. These Centers, which will be run by LEAF's team of trained agronomists, will collaborate with farmers during the harvest cycle to ensure that their contributions are rewarded.

The firm, which is based in Tamil Nadu, is also implementing cutting-edge technology at these Farmer Service Centers in order to bring significant clarity to the farming ecosystem, according to the release.