Rural banking system through credit and its effect on agricultural productivity in nagrota bagwan block in Kangra district of himachal pradesh

Abstract

Present study was confined to Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. In this study Nagrota Bagwan block was selected randomly. A list of farmers, who had borrowed agricultural loan, was obtained from different banks and a sample of 50 beneficiaries was obtained from this block. The existing agricultural credit system in the study area showed that, Punjab National Bank, Himachal Gramin Bank,The Kangra Central Co-operative Bank and State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of India were operating.Overall % accessibility of sampled beneficiaries to the credit indicated that about 90 % of the loan applied was sanctioned by the institutions. Borrowing through Kisan Credit Card was the highest. State Bank of Patiala was the most important source of borrowings. Cost of borrowing was also found to be low. After availing the financial assistance, the investment on the farm machinery and implements increased substantially followed by investment on livestock. The overall change in investment was calculated to be about 28 %. Paddy and potato had the highest shift in area. The area under paddy increased by 30.76 % and 23.52 % in case of potato. Area under maize (HYV) increased by 10 % while in case of vegetable the increase was 14.28 %. Area under maize (local) and wheat decreased by 35.71 % and 14.63 % respectively. Maximum increase in fertilizer application was observed in potato (22.39 %), followed bymaize (21.62 %) and cucumber (18 %). The increase in productivity of cucumber was found to be highest (26.70 %), followed by paddy (15.01 %), potato (15.33 %), and vegetables (12.76 %). Productivity of maize (10 %) increased but in less proportion as compared to other crops. There was substantial increase in milk yield of Cross Bred Cow. The average annual income per household increased by about 10 %. The study recommends that there is a need for more awareness about lending among farmers from the institutional sources. Further, loans through Kisan Credit Card were quite high thus efforts should be made so that maximum farmers have Kisan Credit Card and can avail the bank loans without any difficulty.