Accessibility of Institutional Credit by Farmers in Bundelkhand Region of Uttar Pradesh

Access to institutional credit is critical to farmers for purchasing inputs and saving farmers from exploitation by professional moneylenders who charge unduly high interest rates and debt traps: adequate and timely availability of institutional credit at affordable interest rates. The study revealed that the flow of institutional credit for agriculture and allied sectors has increased tremendously, with a positive growth of 15.53 per cent of CAGR during the study period. It is distributed across different districts in the Bundelkhand region. Jhansi district received the highest share of institutional credit at 35.40 per cent and the lowest share in Mahoba at 4.72 per cent during 2022-23. Unfortunately, access to institutional credit for agriculture in most of Chitrakoot and Mahoba has been vulnerable. Farmers in the region deserve adequate access to institutional credit based on standard criteria such as credit deposit, level of agricultural diversification, and potential for high agrarian growth that can help reduce poverty.