A brainstorming workshop on “Finalization of Bankable Mithun Farming”, was conduted by ICAR-NRC on Mithun in collaboration with officials of NABARD from the North-East states. It involved the National Bank of Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD), State Level Banking Committee (SLBC) and Department of Veterinary & Animal Husbandry of all the mithun rearing states- Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland.

Mithun (Bos frontalis), the magnificent and unique bio-resource of North-Eastern Hilly States, serves as a means of livelihood security of lakhs of mithun farmers.

However, unlike other livestock, mithun farming is not yet bankable as result the Mithun farmers are deprived of reaping the advantages of the government schemes including the National Livestock Mission launched by the Government of India.

ICAR-NRC on Mithun, the only Institution committed for the continual development of mithun and its rearer, has been constantly trying to address this issue with the banking and credit institutions.

It is worth mentioning that the present workshop is a sequel to the stakeholder workshop for finalizing the techno-economic parameters for developing a bankable scheme for Mithun farming held during 2018-19.

Director of ICAR-NRC on Mithun Abhijit Mitra, while flagging, the informed the house on the present mithun production system and ways forward for its improvement with scientific inputs and emphasized the urgent need of developing bankable Mithun farming as Mithun is already covered under the National Livestock Mission (NLM) launched by Government of India.

He urged the financing institutions to come forward considering the unique production system of Mithun supporting the economic livelihood of many farmers in the region.

Prof. S Pan presented a Bankable Mithun Scheme elaborating on financial implications, technical feasibility, and economic viability.

All the issues including length of scheme period, interest moratorium, possibilities of credit subsidy,  and diversification were deliberated at length as to how Mithun farming can be bankable taking the interest of stakeholders and financing agencies into a win-win proposition.

It was agreed that after incorporating the suggestions and technical inputs given during the workshop a revised bankable scheme will be communicated to NABARD.

The deliberation made in the workshop will not only pave the way of fulfilling the need for credit support for Mithun farming but it will be a  game-changer towards entrepreneurship development involving Mithun Farmers.