Farmers' Attitude towards Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme - The Case of Sivagangai Taluk in Tamilnadu

This paper is an attempt to analyse the farmers’ opinion about the implementation of the Kisan Credit Card Scheme in Sivagangai Taluk in Tamilnadu. It is mainly based on the primary data collected from 150 KCC holders selected by employing proportionate random sampling technique. The selected KCC holders belong to five villages coming under the area of operation of the Idayamelur Co-operative Society in Sivagangai Taluk of Tamilnadu and engaged in paddy and banana cultivation. The Chi-Square Test and Factor Analysis Approach have been employed to analyse the data. The results show that though the procedural efficiency in expediting the sanction and disbursement of loan under KCC and the reasonable rate of interest are well appreciated by the farmers in the study area, they place on record only a medium level of opinion about the overall implementation of KCC Scheme. While the farmers whole-heartedly welcome the cash discount offered under the KCC Scheme they are highly disappointed at the inadequacy of loan amount under this scheme which adversely affects them in two ways. First it miserably fails to meet all the expenses of cultivation and secondly and more importantly it forces them to approach the money lenders in order to meet their cost of cultivation. Further, a close watch over the repayment of loan availed under KCC shows that there is no default on the part of the farmers in the study area. So, the authorities concerned might give due consideration to maximise the credit limit fixed under KCC so as to save the poor farmers from the inescapable clutches of blood-sucking usurers.