A ten-year study by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) says that AP has the highest rate of credit availability for farmers in the nation.
Punjab, which held the top slot for over ten years is now in the second number.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development examined the loan disbursement statistics for the agricultural industry between 2011–12 and 2021–22.
According to the research, which also addressed the concerns of credit limitations and cultivators' access to institutional financing, farmers in AP received nearly 129 lakh per hectare of land, compared to 1 lakh per hectare distributed in Punjab.
Analysts noted that farmers in AP may be receiving a higher rate of loan from the banks as a result of their extensive cultivation of cash-rich commercial crops including chilies, tobacco, cotton and turmeric.
As per some media reports, last year the maximum outstanding loans and farmer's loan debts were from Southern India. In 2011, the major four states with the highest average amount of outstanding loans per agricultural household were Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala. While the total average of loans per agri household was Rs. 74,121, the corresponding number in AP & Kerala is Rs 2.45 lakh & Rs 2.42 lakh respectively.
According to a 2019 NSS study titled "Situation Assessment of Agricultural Families and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India," agricultural households in southern states had significantly more outstanding debt than agricultural households as compared to other major states.
The NSS study revealed that banks, cooperative societies and government organizations provided almost 69.6 percent of the outstanding loans, with the remaining 30.4 percent coming from non-institutional sources.
On the other hand, in Punjab, the state government waived off loans worth Rs. 25,000 for small and marginal farmers.
