Farm credit poser

Focus on targeting instead of quantum

Going by official claims, institutional credit to the farm sector is set to exceed the target of Rs 10 trillion for the current year, conforming to the sustained trend of actual loan disbursements outstripping the liberally hiked annual targets year after year. Yet neither agrarian distress nor farmers’ dependence on moneylenders is showing signs of easing. Nearly 40 per cent of rural credit demand is still met by the informal sector, including commission agents and moneylenders, though the total credit flow has surged over 10-fold since the early 2000s. Clearly, the purpose for which institutional credit to the farm sector