Abstract
India being a welfare state, the citizens expect the government to perform all kinds of welfare measures to all sections of population especially agricultural community. Agricultural lending and financing play a pivotal role in India's agriculture sector, which employs over 50% of the country's workforce and contributes around 17-18% to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The first and foremost factor in providing agricultural finance by both the Central and State governments is that it should be made available at the door steps of farmers, that is, affordability is sine qua non for meeting their requirements such as, buying agricultural equipments, raw materials and inputs with a view to increase agricultural productivity. In the provision of agricultural finance to the farming community at large, there are two sources, namely, organized and unorganized sources. So far organized sources are concerned, commercial banks, cooperative banks, NABARD are worth mentioning and unorganized sources include indigenous bankers, traders, relatives and friends form part of it. The loan assistance offered to the farmers are with the aim of satisfying their commitments relating to expenses for crop cultivation, buying necessary seeds, pesticides and manures and various required input materials. Right from the tilling of soil till the reaping of corn during harvesting all kinds of assistance are offered by these institutions. In addition, government comes forward to chalk out various schemes for the promotion of well being of the farming community. This paper attempts to highlight the existing schemes launched for providing agricultural finance to the needy people.
Keywords: Agricultural finance, Agricultural inputs, Agricultural productivity, Capital investment
References
Datt & Sundaram, 72 Edition ( 2018), ‘Indian Economy’, S. Chand, New Delhi.
Raghul B Nagpal, (2017), “Agricultural Finance’, Pacific Books International, New Delhi.
Economic Survey, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, 2022-2023.