Abstract
Access to credit has a key role in the growth of Indian agriculture. The majority of Indian farmers belong to the economically weak section and do not have access to institutional credit. The article attempts to identify the factors affecting the access of institutional credit to the farmers of West Bengal. The primary data were collected using a simple random sampling method from 552 farmers across all the districts in West Bengal. The data have been analyzed using a logit model. The results reveal that factors like off-farm income, collateral and age of farmer have a negative impact on the adoption of institutional credit by the farmers, whereas agricultural extension services and landholding have a positive effect. The study recommends that efforts should be made to reduce paperwork and time in loan processing. Also, educating farmers about the advantages of utilizing institutional credit would help increase the adoption of institutional credit among them.
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