Haor farmers turn to moneylenders after failing to get bank loans
Sr Staff Reporter, Kishoreganj :
Boro cultivation is now in full swing in the haor areas. Planting is almost at the final stage.
Irrigation is being provided to the newly sown land. Farmers are busy applying fertilizers and maintaining it.
Amidst this busyness, landless farmers are running around in search of capital. Some of them are going to NGOs for loans, while many are knocking on the doors of moneylenders.
Landless farmers say that the doors of banks are almost closed to them. They are now in extreme crisis after being deprived of agricultural loans from banks due to lack of land documents and lack of guarantor from the landowner.
A large portion of the farmers involved in Boro rice cultivation in the haor areas of Kishoreganj are landless. They rent land from big farmers or landowners for a year to cultivate.
However, since they do not have land ownership or documents, these farmers do not get agricultural loans from banks. As a result, due to capital shortage, they are forced to go to NGOs and moneylenders.
There they have to take high-interest loans. On the other hand, a large portion of the bank’s agricultural loans are going to the landowners, who do not directly cultivate the land themselves.
Department of Agricultural sources , it has been learned that about 80 percent of the Boro farmers in the haor are landless. They cultivate land on rent locally through the ‘jama’ system.
Cash is needed at the beginning for everything including deposits, fertilizer, seeds, irrigation. Since they do not have land papers in their names, banks do not give them agricultural loans. As a result, they start their cultivation with the burden of debt.
On top of that, there is the risk of untimely floods and adverse weather. All in all, despite hard work, there is no profit in agriculture.
Abdul , a landless farmer from karimganj ‘s Changnowagaon area said, “The bank has not shown us any land papers. We are not the owners of the land. We do not have any land papers. So we are forced to take money from the moneylender. We have to take money at high interest rates.”
Some farmers are busy preparing the land Alal Miah in Mitamoin Gopdighir haor said that , “After the harvest, the interest has to be paid first. The profit is negligible.”
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) there are 521,600 farming families in Kishoreganj. Of these, 463,196 are landless, marginal and small farming families.
This means that most of the farmers in the district are outside the scope of bank agricultural loans. This reality raises the question of who is actually being given agricultural loans.
Sagar Ahmed, an official of Bangladesh Krishi Bank’s Morichkhali Bazar branch in Karimganj Upazila, said, “According to the current rules, agricultural loans can only be given if the landowner is the guarantor of the landless farmer.” However, local farmers complain that in reality, such guarantors are rarely found.
Deputy Director(DD) of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) of Kishoreganj, dr. Sadiqur Rahman told the New Nation that, “It is important to provide agricultural loans on easy terms to those who directly go into the field and cultivate. In addition, farmers need to be brought under crop insurance.”
DD of DAE also said, This year, Boro rice is being cultivated on 1,68,260 hectares of land in Kishoreganj district. The production target has been set at 1,195,029 metric tons of rice. 33 banks and financial institutions distribute agricultural loans in the district.
The target for agricultural loans in the 2024-25 fiscal year was Tk 5,598.1 million. Of this, 73 percent has been distributed. The target for the 2025-26 fiscal year has been set at Tk 4,609.6 million. Tk 2,693.4 million has been distributed so far.”
Agrani Bank is the leading institution for agricultural credit distribution in the district. The member secretary of the district credit distribution committee of this institution is Mobarak Hossain, AGM of the bank’s Kishoreganj regional office.
He said, “Those who have land documents can get agricultural loans very easily. For those who do not have land documents, the land owner has to be the guarantor.”
CAB, district secretary Monowar Hossein Rony said that farmers in haors have always been neglected. We want the bank authorities to implement easy loans for them on easy terms or through agricultural cards.
The reality is that those who own land but do not cultivate it are the ones who get loans easily. And those who go out to the field and cultivate paddy are the ones who are deprived of loans. Boro cultivation in haors will not be sustainable unless this inequality is removed.