A BRIEF NOTE ON AGRICULTURAL CREDIT DURING POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD IN INDIA

Dr. P. VENU GOPAL

Green Revolution, Kisan Credit Cards, RBI, NABARD, Non-Farm Sector

The Indian agriculture and allied sector broadly covers four activities, namely crop, livestock, forestry and fisheries. To stimulate the productivity of these activities, the Government of India (GoI) succeeded through policy pressures from time to time, leading to various agricultural revolutions, namely the Green Revolution in cereal production (late 1960s-early 1980s), the White Revolution in milk production (early 1970s). Focused on increasing fisheries production and productivity (1973-2002). As a result, the agriculture sector not only became self-sufficient but also emerged as a net exporter of many agricultural commodities like rice, seafood, cotton, etc. However, there are many problems related to availability of credit for this sector. Hence, an attempt has been made in this paper to examine the nature of agricultural credit in India during the post-independence period. We have largely used secondary data for this analysis. The agricultural credit policies formulated and implemented in India are mainly targeted ground level credit, interest subvention scheme and priority sector credit guidelines through provision of credit through regulatory guidance. These policies along with other policy interventions at the government and RBI level have yielded commendable results in the agricultural credit sector. Realizing the importance of institutional credit in promoting growth and development of the agricultural sector, the All India Rural Credit Survey Committee (AIRCSC, 1951-54) laid the foundation for the institutional framework to establish a sound credit delivery system for financing agriculture and allied activities. Till the late 1960s, the cooperative structure assumed the responsibility of providing production credit to farmers. With a view to imposing social control, commercial banks were nationalized in 1969 and 1980. Further, in 1976, RRBs were set up as alternative agencies for providing rural credit. These developments brought about a significant change in the flow of institutional credit to the agricultural sector. Consequently, the credit requirements of farmers were largely met by formal institutional sources. Gradually the country has shifted towards a multi-agency approach to meet the credit needs of farmers. The introduction of KCC has given a major boost to agricultural credit and has brought about a sea change in improving the accessibility of credit to the farming community. However, there are some regional disparities in credit distribution which need to be addressed immediately.

Volume 5 Issue 12, December-2020

Pages : 73-81