Aliqoli Eimani, CEO of the National Wheat Farmers Foundation, said that issuing credit cards to farmers is not an appropriate solution, because farmers need to pay cash to combine-harvester operators, laborers, and others, and cannot make those payments with a credit card.
According to AgroFoodNews, quoting Young Journalists Club, Eimani stated that the wheat payment credit scheme has not been well received. He explained that giving farmers a credit card is not a suitable approach, since a farmer needs to pay people such as the combine operator and workers in cash and cannot settle those costs via a credit card.
He added that not all of the money from wheat sales is “disposable income” for farmers to spend on household needs using a credit card; moreover, the credit card must be repaid during the planting period.
Eimani continued: the wheat credit scheme is non-cash credit and can only be used to purchase agricultural inputs or basic household goods. However, wheat farmers have farming-related debts—such as paying for a tractor to plow the land, a combine harvester for harvesting, and trucks for transport—which must be paid in cash.
He said the scheme may be useful for those who have spring and summer crops, because they can use this credit to buy inputs for the upcoming cultivation season. Still, the number of such beneficiaries is limited and this group of farmers is not widespread. He noted as well that to receive the money for their crop, wheat farmers must pay the bank 0.5% interest per month.
