AGRICULTURAL CREDIT I

closed

The major part of the project will be for the mechanization of grain farming in northern Tunisia. Credit facilities would be opened to farmers for purchasing wheel and crawler tractors, combines and related agricultural machinery. National Bank of Tunisia (BNT) will, simultaneously, provide from its own sources short-term credit for financing inputs like high yielding seeds and fertilizers. Other provisions would include: (a) development of dairy farming in northern Tunisia to help rebuild livestock herds; (b) new oases in the desert on water from artesian aquifers, which would require drilling of bore-holes up to 600 meters deep, installation of pumps where underground pressure would not be sufficient, irrigation and drainage equipment, land and soil preparation, planting of date palms and wind breaks, and ancillary installations; and (c) support services to improve BNT's project appraisal section, the technical staff of STIL's plantation management and the public farm extension service.