Pan Asia Bank finances drip Irrigation solutions to empower farmers in Ipalogama
Ipalogama in Anuradhapura, which is located in Sri Lanka’s ancient Kingdom of Raja Rata became the beneficiary of Pan Asia Bank’s latest venture to empower farmers with financing of Drip Irrigation systems.
Ipalogama which has always contributed to the country’s economy with its agricultural and farming industries is now increasingly moving towards more commercially viable cultivations utilizing better farming tech techniques. In this backdrop Pan Asia Bank identified the need to assist the enterprising farmers of I p a l o gama wh e n its Development Banking Division officials visited the area to provide small scale entrepreneurs with financial assistance to expand their businesses.
“Impressed by both the village’s agriculture friendly climate and the determination of its youth who were determined to make their agricultural endeavours a commercial success, we decided to help them out by selecting several families to begin guava cultivation in the area. With the financial assistance and coordination of our Kekirawa branch, we were able to offer start-up guava farmers viable refinancing plans (with interest as low as 5.5%) under the Central Bank ‘ Swashakthi’ Loan Scheme during the first half of 2017. Under the careful supervision of our Kekirawa branch, guava cultivation increased in leaps and bounds to exceed over 75 acres in the a re a ” said Ranjith Athuko r a l a , A s s i s t a n t Manag e r - D eve l o p m e n t Banking of Pan Asia Bank.
Bank’s involvement and commitment to assist the farmers of Ipalogama did not stop there as they realized that in order to reap the full benefits of their efforts; farmers of Ipalogama had to be introduced to better agricultural technologies. Hence, Pan Asia Bank decided to help them increase their harvest and substantially reduce cultivation costs by joining hands with the Global Climate Partnership Fund ( GCPF), which is an investment fund dedicated to energy conservation and sustainable environment management. With this collaboration, the bank began introducing guava cultivation to farmers in Ipalogama for export purposes.