Anhui farmers receive collateral-free, interest-free loans credited directly to their accounts
For a long time, due to a lack of collateral or the difficulty of bearing relatively high loan interest, it has not been easy for grassroots farmers to expand production and increase income through loan financing. The new agricultural-support credit model explored and implemented by the Agricultural Development Bank of China together with relevant guarantee institutions and leading local enterprises sends credit funds directly to farmers, who need not provide collateral or even pay interest. It is expected to offer a new path for solving the financing difficulties of grassroots farmers, promoting agricultural efficiency, and increasing farmers' incomes.
Li Chaoqun, a villager of Wangjiahe Village, Dahuaoping Township, Huoshan County, Anhui Province, recently received nearly 60,000 yuan in loan funds transferred by the Anhui Provincial Branch of the Agricultural Development Bank of China into his account. This will help him expand his family's moso bamboo planting area from the current more than 20 mu to 40 mu before April this year. The more than 20 mu already planted with moso bamboo can increase his income by about 30,000 yuan per year.
Huoshan County is located in the Dabie Mountains of Anhui Province and is known as the “Hometown of Moso Bamboo.” Its bamboo forest area is more than 240,000 mu. Moso bamboo has a short production cycle and strong regenerative capacity, and is gradually becoming a green and environmentally friendly material favored by people. For many years, planting and selling moso bamboo has brought tangible benefits to local people and has become one of the most important sources of income for local farmers.
Li Chaoqun told reporters that the biggest expense in planting moso bamboo is the initial investment, mainly including land clearing and the purchase of bamboo mother plants. In the past, he had applied to some grassroots financial institutions for loans, which, in addition to requiring a house as collateral, also required paying interest of about 9 li. With the loan he obtained this time, he not only does not need to provide collateral, but does not even need to pay loan interest.
Li Chaoqun is not an isolated case. Yu Ronggao, director of his village, Wangjiahe Village, told reporters that more than ten farming households in Wangjiahe Village have now obtained loans ranging from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan from the Agricultural Development Bank of China, all of which will be used to expand moso bamboo planting area.
The agricultural-support service obtained by the villagers of Wangjiahe Village benefits from the new farmer loan model “Ten Thousand Households Moso Bamboo Income-Boosting Project” loan program, which is being implemented by the Anhui Provincial Branch of the Agricultural Development Bank of China and Anhui Credit Guarantee Group together with local leading enterprise Longhua Bamboo Industry Co., Ltd. That is, Longhua Bamboo Industry acts as the overall borrower “person,” Anhui Credit Guarantee Group provides guarantees, and unified loan services are provided to the enterprise's contract farmers, with all loans directly deposited into the farmers' “one-card” passbooks.
Longhua Bamboo Industry is a provincial-level leading enterprise in agricultural industrialization whose main business is the research, development, processing, and export of a series of moso bamboo products. Its person in charge, Fang Yelong, said that the loan project implemented this time can not only support local farmers in expanding moso bamboo planting area and help farmers increase income and become better off, but can also provide a steady stream of materials for the enterprise to expand production scale.
Speaking of how to repay the loans, both Yu Ronggao and Li Chaoqun were relaxed: there is no hard repayment date. When the moso bamboo matures, the bamboo can be calculated at market price and delivered to Longhua Bamboo Industry to offset the loan principal. Fang Yelong also promised that when farmers repay, Longhua Bamboo Industry's moso bamboo purchase price will be increased by 2% on top of the market price.
Han Yi, deputy governor of the Anhui Provincial Branch of the Agricultural Development Bank of China, said that for the “Ten Thousand Households Moso Bamboo Income-Boosting Project,” the Agricultural Development Bank of China has approved a loan limit of 50 million yuan for Longhua Bamboo Industry Co., Ltd. It is currently disbursing the first phase of 10 million yuan in guaranteed loans, which has already benefited hundreds of farming households, and the entire loan project is expected to cover more than 20,000 bamboo farmers.
Han Yi introduced that the “Ten Thousand Households Moso Bamboo Income-Boosting Project” is only one part of the serialized “Enriching the People and Prosperous Industry” farmer guarantee credit plan implemented by the Agricultural Development Bank of China and Anhui Guarantee Group. Similar credit agricultural-support models will soon be expanded to grain production, oil processing, and other industries.