State of Agricultural Finance in India

Book excerpt: Agricultural finance has come a long way in the past 15 years. After the concerted efforts of GOI, supported by RBI and NABARD, towards doubling of agricultural credit flow in 2004-2005, the growth in credit flow to the sector has been robust with an impressive CAGR of 18% between 2004--2005 and 2019-2020. While outreach increased, the Terms of Trade (Farmers and Non-farmers) has largely been on a declining trend, reflecting the underlying stressed conditions in farming. There is a challenge of inclusion, where small and marginal farmers continue to struggle for suitable and affordable credit products and access. This book summarizes the current state of agricultural finance in India, highlighting policy blind spots and grey areas. It documents the important advancements made in the agri-finance space in the last few years. The book covers various aspects of Agri-Finance Policy; institutional appetite and architecture for agriculture credit; formal financial services for enterprises in agriculture; agri-business, including FPOs; and innovations in credit, insurance, delivery mechanisms for agri-sector.