Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank: For Poultry Development

What is the PCARD bank poultry development loan?

Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks, known across Tamil Nadu as PCARD banks, are the long-term credit arm of the state's cooperative system. The Registrar of Cooperative Societies reports 180 PCARD banks functioning at taluk and block level, and their function is to provide long-term credit to farmers for minor irrigation, land development, farm mechanisation, horticulture and animal husbandry.

The poultry development loan is the animal husbandry line of that lending. It finances a small allied-activity unit for a farming household. A poultry shed with a few hundred birds, or a pair of milch cows, which is exactly the kind of investment that steadies a family's income between crops.

According to scheme material, the notified unit assistance is up to Rs 14,800 for a unit of 200 birds and up to Rs 17,000 for two cows, with interest reported in the range of 14.5 to 16.5 per cent a year, subject to periodic revision.

Two things to establish before you plan around this loan

• The unit costs above are old notified figures. Feed, bird and cattle prices have moved a long way since they were set, so ask the taluk bank for the current lending scale rather than assuming these numbers.
• The Registrar of Cooperative Societies notes that because of refinance constraints, PCARD banks currently issue mainly jewel loans. Whether the animal husbandry term loan is actually being sanctioned this year is a question only your taluk bank can answer.

Who is eligible for the poultry development loan?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer resident in Tamil Nadu, within the taluk PCARD bank's area of operation.
• You are taking up poultry rearing or cattle rearing and will use the loan for that purpose.
• You can offer the land security the bank requires; PCARD banks are long-term lenders and normally take a mortgage of land.
• You have the space and water for a shed, and access to a veterinary facility.
• You are not in default to the bank or to another cooperative institution.

You cannot apply if:

• You have no land to offer as security and no acceptable alternative. A landless applicant is better served by a Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Society, a self-help group loan, or the Animal Husbandry Department's own subsidy schemes.
• You live outside the bank's area of operation.
• You are an existing defaulter to a cooperative bank or society.
• You want the loan for trading in birds or milk rather than for setting up a production unit.
• The title to the land is unclear or the encumbrance certificate shows a prior charge.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the PCARD poultry loan

1. Visit the Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank for your taluk and ask the Secretary or Special Officer whether the animal husbandry term loan is currently being sanctioned and at what unit cost and rate.
2. Meet the Veterinary Assistant Surgeon or the block Animal Husbandry officer and prepare a simple unit estimate: number of birds or cows, shed cost, feed, vaccination and equipment.
3. Obtain the land documents and a fresh encumbrance certificate from the sub-registrar's office. These take the longest and should be started first.
4. Collect the loan application form from the bank, fill it with your land details, the proposed unit and the amount sought, and attach every document listed above.
5. Submit the application at the bank and take a dated acknowledgement. The bank inspects the site and the title before placing the case for sanction.
6. On sanction, complete the mortgage formalities, take disbursement, and buy the birds or cattle. The bank may disburse in stages against proof of purchase.

What the loan pays for, and what it does not

The loan finances the unit — the birds or cattle, the shed, basic equipment and an initial feed cycle. It is a term loan repaid over a fixed period out of the income the unit generates.

It does not carry a capital subsidy of its own. Subsidy for poultry and dairy units in Tamil Nadu comes from a different direction: the Animal Husbandry Department's own schemes and the central National Livestock Mission, which supports entrepreneurship in poultry, sheep, goat and piggery. A farmer planning a unit should apply for the subsidy scheme and the credit in parallel rather than assuming one includes the other.

How to check your application status

1. Ask the Secretary or Special Officer of the taluk PCARD bank for the file position, quoting the acknowledgement.
2. Confirm that the site inspection and the title scrutiny have been completed, since these are the usual stalling points.
3. Where the encumbrance certificate is the delay, follow up with the sub-registrar's office directly.
4. For a bank that says funds are unavailable, ask the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies in your district whether another institution in the taluk is lending.

Why applications are rejected, and what to do instead

• No acceptable land security. Apply instead to a Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Society, which lends on a different basis, or through a joint liability group.
• Unclear land title or an encumbrance, which must be cleared before any mortgage.
• Refinance not available at the PCARD bank for the year. This is not a defect in the application, and the practical answer is a commercial bank, a PACCS loan, or the Animal Husbandry Department's subsidy route.
• Existing default at a cooperative institution.
• Unit estimate not supported by the veterinary officer, so the bank cannot assess viability.

Where PCARD banks fit in the cooperative structure

• Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies to 4,473 societies with 218 branches across 38 districts, giving short-term crop loans, Kisan Credit Card loans and produce pledge loans.
• Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks to 180 taluk-level banks giving long-term credit for land development, farm mechanisation, horticulture and animal husbandry.
• Large Sized Multi Purpose Cooperative Societies: tribal-area societies offering credit alongside input supply and fair price shops.

Help and grievance redressal

• Secretary or Special Officer, taluk PCARD bank, for the application, unit cost and current rate.
• Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies, district level, for complaints about a bank's conduct or refusal.
• Registrar of Cooperative Societies, rcs.tn.gov.in, for the department's structure.
• Block Veterinary Assistant Surgeon, for the unit estimate and for subsidy schemes that can run alongside the loan.

No payment is due beyond the charges the bank levies on receipt. Ask for a receipt for every rupee paid at the counter.