KATHMANDU: The government would soon issue loans to farmers at a subsided interest rate by accepting their commercial agricultural products as collateral, the Agriculture Secretary said.

Speaking at a function in Tokha of Kathmandu on Sunday, Secretary at the Ministry of Agricultural Development Uttam Kumar Bhattarai said the Ministry would soon launch such programme.

The government was consulting stakeholders about its implementation, he added while inaugurating a vegetable farm run by Laxmi Integrated Agriculture Business Private Limited in Tokha.

The project was launched with a financial assistance from the MoAD's Project for Agriculture Commercialisation and Trade (PACT).

According to the company's chairman Krishna Man Shrestha, it has been providing employment to 30 local farmers, mostly women.

Speaking at the function, PACT Director Indrakanta Jha said the Project had been a helping hand for farmers who wish to make profit.

Other agriculture officials including MoAD Joint-Secretary Yogendra Kumar Karki amd Director General at the Department of Agriculture Yuwak Dhwaj GC had addressed the function.