WASHINGTON, Dec 15 ? The World Bank has approved a USD 154 million International Development Association credit to assist the Assam Government in improving productivity of its agricultural sector, reports PTI. The credit is designed to stimulate the growth of Assam's agricultural economy, through predominantly pro-poor activities, directed primarily at small and marginal landholders, poor fishing communities, and the landless. Rural communities in all districts of the state will be impacted directly by various aspects of this project.
In Assam, the Bank notes, more than 85 per cent of the poor live in rural areas; and unemployment in the state is more than twice the national average. The predominant aspect of agriculture in the state is the monsoon-based rice production systems in the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys, accounting for about 70 per cent of the cropped area.
Agricultural growth in the state has stagnated in recent years due to a number of underlying problems, including farmers? lack of capital to invest in irrigation and farm mechanisation; inadequate extension services and effective market linkages; low productivity of livestock; and an undeveloped rural road network, inhibiting communications and movement of goods and trade.
?The Assam Agricultural Competitiveness Project will improve the productivity of farmers and community groups and increase their access to market opportunities,? said Robert Epworth, a Senior Agriculturist with the World Bank.