A Study On The Farmers Perception And Bankers Attitude Towards Agricultural Finance In Odisha With Specification To Kendrapara District

Abstract

newline Agriculture is the major occupation of the people of Odisha. It is a vibrant sector in the newlinestate as well as nation s economy and provides livelihood to more than 80% of the newlinepeople. Agriculture in Odisha state lubricates the wheels of the economic development. It newlineis the only sector which has the power to solve problems of poverty, unemployment, food newlineand nutrition crisis of the rural populace. According to economic survey of Odisha, newlineagricultural sector contributes more than 27% of GDP and provides employment directly newlineor indirectly to more than 60% population of the state. Agriculturally, Odisha is one of newlinethe backward states in India. Agricultural production and productivity in the state per newlinehectarebasis as well as per cultivator (farmer) basis is comparatively lower than other newlinestates. Natural calamities, uncertain monsoon, traditional method of farming, inadequate newlineinstitutional finance are the hindrances of low productivity in agriculture. Farmers income newlinegoes declining day by day due to non-availability of adequate and timely finance for newlineagriculture. Farmers are poor thereby they have no sufficient own financial resources to newlinemake investment in agriculture. They depend on agriculture credit for farming. newlineAgriculture finance is the pre-requisite for agricultural development. It is an essential newlineinput for augmenting agricultural production, using improved technology and accelerating newlinethe pace of capital formation in agriculture and allied sector. Farmers need agricultural newlinecredit both for production purpose (crop loan) and investment purpose (term loan). So newlineagricultural credits have paramount importance in agricultural development and newlineenhancement of farmer s income. The financial requirements of the farmers are obtained newlinefrom two sources namely: Institutional sources (organised) and non-institutional sources newline(unorganised). The non-institutional sources primarily include money lenders, Sahukars, newlineMahajans, Trader and Commission agents etc. The institutional sources of financing are newlineCommercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Co-operative Banks. For increasing newlineproductivity in agriculture and improving standards of living of farmers, the institutional newlinecredit delivery system is relevant. Farmers in the state are facing lot of problems like newlineselection of institutional agencies, inadequate amount of loan, high rate of interest, newline2 newlineunaware of agriculture loan schemes, problems in receiving agriculture loans, time-taking newlineprocess in loan financing etc. while obtaining agricultural finance. Similarly, it is newlineobserved that there is the variation between farmers financial requirements for cultivation newlineand achievement made by the banker. Meanwhile, the credit delivery to the agriculture newlinesector continues to be insufficient and not timely. It appears that the banking agencies in newlinethe state are still hesitant on various grounds to provide credit facilities to landless, newlinemarginal and small farmers for agriculture purpose. Hence, in this context a study seeks newlineto find out farmer s perception and bankers attitude towards agricultural finance in newlineOdisha with specification to Kendrapara Dist.