Agricultural Finance by Commercial Banks

This book ‘Agricultural Finance by Commercial Banks’ is an attempt made by Dr. K. Sivaji, M.Com., M.Phil., Ph.D., to establish the linkage between commercial banks loans and actual requirement by agricultural sectors.  Bank finance is an important engine of growth.  In a planned economy, it is important that the allocation of bank credit must be in accordance with the priorities of the plan.  It is recognized that agricultural development pre-supposes a grater flow of inputs as well as institutional and organizational reforms.  Agricultural credit is one of the most crucial inputs in all agricultural development programs.  Banking sector reforms implemented during the period 1991-96 have seriously eroded the flow of resources for financing agricultural development.  In the second phase the Narasimham committee recommended reducing state intervention in credit allocation.  Specifically it recommended that priority sector lending be reduced.  Limiting the coverage of priority sector to 10 per cent of total net bank credit will go against the interest of the farmers.  There has been an appreciable reduction in the proportion of bank credit going to priority sector since the reforms.  Area-specific studies are comparatively limited in number, which are of great importance on account of vast inter-regional variations of bank credit in developing countries like India.  Hence, an attempt is made in this study to examine the role of commercial banks in agricultural credit in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh.  The main focus of this book is to highlight the role of commercial bank credit in agricultural development at national and district levels.  A detailed analysis relating to the impact of commercial bank credit on the farm employment, income, assets, and overdues is undertaken in this study.