$346 mln loans given to greenhouse farmers
ISTANBUL-Anadolu Agency
The state-owned Ziraat Bank has provided a total of 1.9 billion Turkish Liras (around $346n million) of financing to farmers under the “greenhouse farming loan package” that was launched in February by Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak.
Some 8,993 farmers have benefited from the financing scheme, according to the statement Ziraat made on Aug. 7.
Albayrak hailed the strong demand for the loan facility. “Loans made available under the Greenhouse Financing Package which was set up to counter fluctuations in food prices have reached 1.9 billion liras. We will continue to meet financing needs in agriculture with the right models,” the minister said on Twitter.
The financing package was designed to establish new greenhouses, boost greenhouse farming production, and upgrade the existing facilities, the bank added.
According to the statement, the amount to be made available for greenhouse farmers will reach 2.5 billion liras by the end of the year.
The amount of loans extended under the finance package in the first three months of the year was three times higher than the credit provided to greenhouse farmers in the same period of the past three years, Ziraat Bank said.
The loans made available under the financing scheme have been used for greenhouse investments in the country’s 41 provinces on more than 16,000 decares.
Those facilities will produce mostly tomatoes, bananas and peppers. As a result of those new investments tomatoes, bananas and pepper production are expected to increase by 5 percent, 15 percent and two percent, respectively, the bank said.
The new investments and resulting production increase will help mitigate seasonal fluctuations in food prices, according to the statement from Ziraat.
