Evaluating the Impact of Kissan Credit Card Scheme on Different Categories of Farms in Punjab

The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of kissan credit card scheme on different categories of farms in Punjab. The study was based on primary data collected from 400 farmers (200 KCCS beneficiary farmers and 200 KCC non beneficiary farmers) spread across three districts viz. Amritsar, Bathinda and Hoshiarpur of Punjab. Cropping intensity as well as returns per hectare were higher among all categories of farms on KCCS beneficiary farms than on KCCS non beneficiary farms. This was due to the timely availability of credit to the KCC beneficiary farms. The major variable which discriminated KCC beneficiary farms and KCC non beneficiary farms in Punjab was net savings. The KCC beneficiaries were found to have low income from other sources resulting in low savings therefore they require more credit to finance their business and this highlights the importance of KCCS. KCC beneficiaries were spending more on socio-religious functions and domestic expenditure. The gap between net saving and credit requirement is also high for KCC beneficiary farmers than KCC non beneficiary farmers. The major reason for the non-adoption of the KCCS were insistence of collateral, fear of non-repayment of loan, satisfaction with owned resources, bad experience in past with institutional sources of credit and time consuming formalities.