Financial Inclusion and Organic Farming Practices of Kuruchya Tribe in Wayanad: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Countries, developing as well as developed are emphasising environment sustainability of agricultural production, methods and practices. The traditional wisdom of farmers on indigenous agrarian practices increasingly being called into question owing to a host of factors. This paper tries to examine the impact of financial services especially institutional credit on the organic farming practices of tribes in Kerala. It uses primary data of 384 respondents from Kuruchya tribes in Wayanad district of Kerala. It found that the extension of formal credit is one of the chief determinants of organic farming. We observed that, majority of tribes, who have access to formal credit continue their traditional or organic farming practices. The tribes being dependent on informal/non institutional credit are mostly practicing inorganic farming methods. The determinants and predictors of organic farming differ from those of inorganic farming. In our country a large number of institutions and agencies are constituted to strengthen the credit delivery system, especially in the rural areas, but still they are not germane to meet the variety of financial needs of rural agriculture sector. This study therefore contains findings which will be helpful in formulating financial inclusion policies with more stress on credit delivery system to foster organic farming practices in rural India.