FARMING LAND AS COLLATERAL

       The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives is ready to help farmers grow crops on land distributed to them by the Treasury Department by allowing them to use the leased land as collateral.
       Pramote Nontakote, senior executive vice president, said yesterday that the farmers are eligible for loans of up to half the appraised value of the land with full repayment within the lease term.
       The loans must be used for the same activities that the farmers proposed to the Treasury Department.
       Since April, the bank has extended Bt2.65 million in such loans to 18 farmers.
       Yesterday, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva handed out nearly 8,000 rai of land to 1,182 farmers in Pathum Thani and Saraburi.
       Deputy Finance Minister Pruttichai Damrongrat said after the turnover ceremony that the land would be transferred to poor farmers and the unemployed to raise food and energy crops.
       The farmers would also be trained on crops and fertiliser, as well as land and water development.
       The Treasury Department has set a target to allocate 200,000 rai in 25 provinces this year.
       Already 52,887 rai of treasury land in four provinces has been leased out to 5,325 farmers, while 10,000 rai in Sa Kaew will be leased soon to 900 farmers who are planning to grow corn, tapioca and eucalyptus trees.
       Nearly 5,000 rai will be offered to 1,100 farmers in Kalasin for food crops and about 1,200 rai in Buri Ram to 100 farmers to plant rice, tapioca and sugarcane.
       The agrarian land scheme, kicked off last year, is set to allocate one million rai over five years. Each household can receive up to 15 rai, with minimum rent of Bt20 per rai per year.
       The lease must be for at least three years.