Kisan Credit Card scheme helps west UP farmers

Agra, Sep 25 : Farmers in west Uttar Pradesh who borrowed loans under the Kisan Credit Card scheme (KCC) have reaped a bounty in terms of increased agricultural production and higher profitability.

In a new study titled "Productivity and Income enhancement through Kisan Credit Card scheme", Bibhuti Bhushan Bareek, former director of the prestigious Pune-based Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management, said the utility of the KCC scheme has been confirmed. 

"Better results could be obtained if a few systematic changes were introduced," Bareek told IANS.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) T. Mohapatra released the book at a brief function at the Youth Hostel here on Sunday evening.

Bareek said IANS his book focused on salient features of the Kisan Credit Card scheme. 

"The study is based on the empirical research covering the region of western Uttar Pradesh, examining in detail the impact of KCC scheme by comparing the KCC and non-KCC farmers across economic and social categories on the basis of use of production, inputs, total cost of production, productivity of crops and dairy animals and gross crop and disposable incomes available with the farmers," he explained.

The main suggestion in the book is that farm advisory services should be synergised with KCC loans to achieve efficiency in production of crops, assignment of annual targets for financing minimum number of KCC borrowers and amount of disbursal of credit for the public and private sector banks operating rural areas and till its saturation in the service area.

Mohapatra said the survey proved the scheme was benefitting farmers. Agriculture scientists should motivate cultivators to adopt better techniques, practices and link their activities with marketing networks, storage facilities available. Over-production often proved detrimental to the farmers' interests.

While farmers in Gujarat were annually earning Rs 10-Rs 15 lakh ($15,350-$23,000) profit per hectare, agriculturists in other parts conducting conventional farming could not even make Rs 5 lakh per annum.

Mohapatra said the key to maximising profit in agriculture was crop planning, diversification and switch-over to newer and better produce. 

The central government, Mohapatra said, was keen to help double the profits of farmers by 2022. This is possible if farmers opt for diversity and crop planning in a scientific manner.

Based on a comprehensive survey of farmers in Firozabad, Agra, Meerut and Ghaziabad, Bareek claimed in his book that farmers borrowing government loans through KCC had been able to increase their farm yield from 45 to 179 per cent. 

Income level had increased by 212.31 percent. Unfortunately, farmers in the rural hinterland were not sensitised or are aware of the benefits and facilities in the KCC scheme.