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9. RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Rural development: Rural development means an action plan for the social and economic upliftment of
the rural areas. It refers to continuous and comprehensive socio- economic process, attempting to
improve all aspects of rural life.

Problem of Rural development

Following are the key issues of action-plan for rural development in India:
1. Development of Human Resources: The quality of human resources needs to be improved
through following measures:
 Proper attention to literacy (specially on female literacy), education and skill
development and
 Better health facilities for the physical growth.
2. Development of Infrastructure: It involves:
 Improvement in electricity, irrigation, credit, marketing, and transport facilities.
 Better facilities for agriculture research and extension and information dissemination.
3. Land reforms: It includes the following objectives:
 Elimination of exploitation in land relations
 Actualization of goal of land to the tiller
Improvement of socio- economic conditions or rural poor by widening their land base increasing
productivity and production.
4. Alleviation of poverty: Action plan for rural development includes high priority to poverty
alleviation. Besides overall development of each locality in the rural areas, special schemes are
to be launched for eradication of poverty.
5. Development of Productive Resources: Productive resources of each locality in the rural area
are to be identified and developed. This is to enhance the opportunities of employment,
particularly in areas other than farming.

Rural credit and its importance

Rural credit means credit for farming families. Credit is the life line of farming activity. In agriculture, due
to long time gap between crop sowing and realization of income, farmers are in strong need for credit.
Farmers need to meet initial investment on seeds, fertilizers, implements and other family expenses of
marriage, death, religious ceremonies, etc. so, credit is one of the important factors which contribute
to agricultural production. An efficient and effective rural credit delivery system is credit for raising
agricultural productivity and income.

Source of Rural Credit

There are two sources, from which the farmers can raise loans:
1. Non institutional sources 2. Institutional sources

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1. Non institutional sources: Non institutional sources have been traditional source of agricultural
credit in India. The major non- institutional sources are:
i) Moneylenders: - From the very beginning, money lenders have been advancing a major
share of farm credit. The peasants (farmers) are exploited through exorbitant (very high)
rates of interest. Quite frequently, their accounts are manipulated without their
knowledge.
ii) Relatives: - Cultivators borrow funds from their own relatives in time of crisis. These loans
are a kind of informal loans and carry no interest and normally returned after harvest.
iii) Traders and commission agents: - They provide credit to farmer on the mortgage of crops
at high rates of interest, on condition, that the crops will be sold to them at low prices.
iv) Rich Landlords: - Small as well as marginal farmers and tenants, take loans form landlords,
for meeting their financial requirement. Landlords also charged high rates of interest on
such loans and exploit farmers, particularly small farmers and tenants.
2. Institutional sources: A major change occurred after 1969, when India adopted the institutional
credit approach through various agencies. Government established the institutional sources
with the following objectives:
i) To provide adequate credit to farmers at cheaper interest rate.
ii) To assist small and marginal farmers in raising the agricultural productivity and maximizing
their income.

Some of the important institutional sources of agricultural credit

1. Co-operative Credit: - The primary objective of the co-operatives is to liberate the Indians
pleasantly from the dutches of moneylenders and to provide them credit at low rate of interest.
2. Land Development Banks: - They provide credit to the farmers against the mortgage of their
lands. Loans are provided for permanent improvement of land, purchasing agriculture
implements and for repaying old depts.
3. Commercial Bank Credit: - Initially, commercial bank played a marginal role in advancing rural
credit. However, after nationalization in 1969, they expanded their branches in rural areas and
started directly financing the farmers.
4. Regional Rural Banks: - They are opened up in those areas where there are no banking facilities.
Their main objectives are to provide credit and other facilities, especially to small and marginal
farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans and small entrepreneurs in rural areas. Regional rural
banks (RRBs) were set up in 1976.
5. The Government: - The loans provided by the government are known as taccavi loans and are
lent during emergency or distress, like famines, flood etc. The rate of interest charged against
such loan is low as 6%.
6. National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD):- It was set up in July, 1982. It
is the Apex Bank which coordinates the functioning of different financial institutions, working for
expansion of rural credit.
 Its objective is to promote health and strength of credit institutions (namely, co-operatives,
commercial banks are regional rural banks).
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 Besides providing finance to credit institutions, NABARD also provides financial assistance to
the non- farm sector, to promote integrated rural development and prosperity of backward
rural areas.

Functions of NABARD

i) To provide short, medium, and long- term credit to state cooperative banks, RRBs, Land
Development Banks and other financial institutions approved by the RBI.
ii) To grant long- term loans to the state government for subscribing to the share capital of
cooperative societies.
iii) To give loans to the approved institutions to invest in securities or to contribute to share capital
of institutions engaged in agricultural and rural development.
iv) To promote research in agriculture and rural development.
v) To take the responsibility of inspecting cooperative banks, RRBs and primary cooperative
societies.
vi) NABARD can help tenant farmers and small farmers to consolidate their land holdings.

7. Self Help Group (SHG) and Micro Credit Programs: SHG has emerged as the major micro finance
programs in the country in recent years.
 Their focus is largely on those rural poor, who have no substitutional access to the formal
banking system,
 So, their target groups comprise of small and marginal farmers, agricultural and non-
agricultural labourers artisans etc.
 SHGs promote thrift in small proportions by a minimum contribution from each member.
 From the pooled money, credit is given to the needy members at reasonable interest rates,
which is to be repaid in small installments.
 By March, 2012, more than forty three lakh SHGs had reportedly been credit linked.
 SHGs have also helped in empowerment of women. However, the borrowings are mainly
confined to consumption purpose and negligible proportion is borrowed for productive
purposes.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF RURAL BANKING - Problem faced in Rural Banking

Some of the problem faced in rural banking is:
1. Insufficiency: - The volume of rural credit in the country is still insufficient in comparison to its
demand.
2. Inadequate coverage of institutional sources: - The institutional credit arrangement continues
to be inadequate as they have failed to cover the entire rural farmers of the country.
3. Inadequate amount of sanction: - The amount of loan sanctioned to the farmers is also
inadequate. As a result, farmers often divert such loans for unproductive purposes, which dilute
the very purpose of such loans.
4. Less attention to poor or marginal farmers: - lesser attention has been given on the credit
requirements of needy (small and marginal) farmers.
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5. Growing overdues: - The problem of overdues in agricultural credit continues to be an area of
concern. The basic reason for growing overdues is the poor repairing capacity of farmers. As a
result, credit agencies are becoming cautious of granting loan to farmers.

To improve the situation:

a) Banks need to change their approach form just being lenders to building up relationship with
the borrowers.
b) Farmers should also be encouraged to inculcate the habit of thrift (saving) and efficient
utilisation of financial resources.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SYSTEM

Agricultural marketing is a process that involves assembling, storage, processing, transportation,
packaging, grading, and distribution of different agricultural commodities across the country.

Q. Explain the steps taken by the government in developing rural markets. Or explain four measures
taken by government to improve agricultural marketing.
Ans. The steps taken by government in developing rural markets include the following measures.
1. Regulated markets: - Regulated markets have been organized with a view to protect the
farmers from the malpractices of sellers and brokers. This policy benefited farmers as well as
consumers.
2. Infrastructural facilities: - The government aims to provide physical infrastructure facilities like
roads, railways, warehouses, godowns, cold storages and processing units.
3. Cooperative marketing: - The aim of cooperative marketing is to realise fair price for farmer’s
product. Under this, marketing societies are formed by sellers to sell the output collectively and
to take advantage of collective bargaining in order to obtain better price.
4. Different policy instruments:- in order to protect the farmers, the government has initiated the
following policies:
a) Minimum support prices (MSP):- To safeguard the interest of farmers, government fixes the
minimum support prices, which is regarded as an offer price, at which the government is
willing to buy any amount of trains from the farmers.
b) Maintenance of Buffer stocks: - The food corporation of India (FCI) purchases wheat and
rice at the procurement prices, to maintain buffer stock buffer stock. Buffer stock ensures
regularity in supply and stability in prices.
c) Public Distribution System (PDS):- PDS operates through a network of ration shops and fair
price shops, in which essential commodities like wheat, rice, kerosene etc. are offered at a
price, to the weaker section of the society.

Q. Mention some obstacles that hinder the mechanism of Agricultural marketing

Ans. Some of the obstacles that hinder the mechanism of Agricultural marketing are:-
1. Agricultural markets are still dominated by the private traders like moneylenders, rural political
leaders, big merchants and rich farmers.

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2. The quantity of Agricultural products, handled by the government agencies and consumer co-
operatives, constitutes only 10%, while the rest handled by the private sector.
3. Lack of storage facility: - The facilities available for storing the food grains and commercial crops
are far from satisfactory.
4. Lack of transportation: - Due to absence of proper road transportation facilities, they have to sell
their produce at the village markets itself.
5. Lack of market information: - Farmers were often forced to sell at low prices due to lack of
required information on prices prevailing in markets.
6. Inadequate warehouses.
7. Multiplicity of middlemen.
8. Lack of adequate finance.
9. In proper measuring for weighing, grading and standardization.

Q. What are the alternative channels available for agricultural marketing? Give some examples.
Ans. Some of the alternative channels available for agricultural marketing are:
1. Farmers market: - The concept of farmers market has been started to give boost to the small
farmers by providing them Direct Access to the consumers and eliminating the middlemen.
Some examples of these channels are: i) Apni Mandi in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan,
ii)Hadaspur Mandi in Pune, iii) Rythu Bazars in Andhra Pradesh and iv) Uzhavar sandies (farmers
market in Tamil Nadu)
2. Alliance with National and Multinational companies: - Several National and multinational fast
food chains are increasingly entering into contracts / alliance with the farmers.
 They encourage the farmers to cultivate farm products (vegetables, fruits,etc.) of the
desired quality.
 They provide them with not only seeds and other inputs, but also assure procurement of
the produce at pre-decided prices.
 Such arrangements help in reducing the price risk of farmers and expand the market for
farm products.

DIVERSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES

Reason for diversification

Agricultural plays a very important role in the economic development. However, the vast majority of
rural people work on land and there is greater risk is depending only on agriculture. The need for
diversification arises because:
1. There is a greater risk in depending exclusively on farming for livelihood and,
2. To provide productive sustainable livelihood options to rural people.

Benefits of Diversification
Much of the agricultural employment activities are concentrated in the kharif season. During the Rabi
season, it becomes difficult to find gainful employment in the areas where there are inadequate
irrigation facilities. So, diversification into other sectors is essential:

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1. To provide supplementary gain full employment
2. To enable them to earn higher levels of income and
3. To enable rural people to overcome poverty and other troubles.

Types of Diversification
Diversification includes two aspects:
1. Diversification of crops production ( change in cropping pattern)
2. Diversification of productive activities (shift of workforce from agriculture to other allied
activities and non agricultural sector).

Diversification of crop production

It involves a shift from single -cropping system to multi- cropping system.
 Diversification involves a shift in cropping pattern from food grain to cash crops. Basically the
main aim is to promote shift form subsistence farming to commercial farming.
 In India, agriculture is still dominated by subsistence farming and farmers give prime importance
to the cereals in the cropping system.
 Multi -cropping system reduces the dependence of farmers on one or two crops as they are
engaged in growing a wide variety of crops.
 There is a need to encourage farmers to take up cultivation of a wide variety of crops. It will also
raise their income.

Diversification of Productive Activities

As Agriculture is already overcrowded, a major proportion of the increasing labour force needs to find
alternative employment opportunities in other non -farm sectors.
 It would provide alternative revenues of sustainable livelihood and would raise the level of
income.
 Non- farm activities has several segments. Some segments of non- farm activities possess
dynamic linkage that permits healthy growth, while other is in subsistence, low productivity
proportions.
 The dynamic sub- sectors include agro- processing industries, food processing industries, leather
industry, tourism etc.
 Those sector which have the potential but a seriously lakh infrastructure and other support,
include traditional household- based industries like pottery, crafts , handlooms, etc.

NON- FARM AREAS OF EMPLOYMENT

Some of the important non-farm areas of employment are:
1. Animal Husbandry and Dairying
Animal Husbandry: - Animal Husbandry (or livestock farming) is that branch of agriculture which
is concerned with breeding rearing and caring for farm animals. The importance of animal
husbandry or livestock farming will be dear from the following points:
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a) Animal Husbandry provides alternative livelihood options to over 70 million small and marginal
farmers including landless labourers.
b) It provides increased stability in income, food security, transport, fuel and nutrition for the
family without disrupting other food producing activities.
c) A significant number of women also find employment in the livestock sector.
Dairying: - Dairying is that branch of agriculture which involves breeding, raising and utilisation
of dairy animals for the production of milk and the various dairy products processed from it.
Dairying is the business of producing, storing and distributing milk and its products. The
performance of Indian dairy Sector over last three decades has been quite impressive.

2. Fisheries
Fisheries refer to the occupation devoted to the catching, processing or selling of fish and other
aquatic animals. Fisheries sector plays an important role in socio- economic development of the
economy.
a) West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu are major fish
producing States.
b) A significant number of women also find employment in the fishing. 60% of the workforce in
export marketing and 40% in internal marketing are women.
c) Fish production contributes 0.8% to India's GDP.

3. Horticulture
Horticulture refers to the science or art of cultivating fruits, vegetables, tuber crops, flowers,
medicinal and aromatic plants, spices and plantation crops. These crops play a vital role in
providing food and nutrition, besides addressing employment corners. Horticulture is an
important sector for potential diversification and value addition in agriculture. India has
emerged as a world leader in producing a variety of fruits, vegetables and a number of spices.
a) Horticulture has improved economic condition of many farmers and has become a mean of
improving livelihood for many unprivileged classes too.
b) Flower harvesting, nursery maintenance etc. are highly remunerative employment options for
women in rural areas.

4. Information technology
Information technology (IT) refers to that branch of engineering that deals with the use of
computers and telecommunications to retrieve and store and transit information. Information
technology has revolutionized many sectors in the Indian economy. It is widely accepted that IT
will play a critical role in achieving sustainable development and food security in the 21st
century.
a) Through appropriate information and software tools, government has been able to predict areas
of food security and vulnerability, to prevent or reduce the likelihood of an emergency.

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b) It also has a position impact on the agriculture sector as it circulates information regarding
emerging technologies and its applications, prices, weather and soil conditions for growing
different crops etc.
c) It acts as a tool for releasing the creative potential and knowledge embedded in the society. It
also has potential of employment generation in rural areas.

OPERATION FLOOD / WHITE REVOLUTION

Operation flood (or White Revolution) was started by National dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1970
under the expert guidance of then chairman, Dr. Verghese kurien. The objective of this Programme was
to create nationwide milk grid.
 Under the operation flood system, all the farmers pool their milk produce according to different
grades and same is processed and marketed to urban centres through co-operatives. The
farmers are assured of a fair price and income.
 Gujarat state is held as a success story in the efficient implementation of milk cooperatives,
which has been followed by many states.
 Due to the successful implementation of 'Operation flood', India ranks first in the world in milk
production. India's milk production increased from 17 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 102.6 million
tonnes in 2006-07 and increased to 165.4 million tonnes in 2016-17.

GOLDEN REVOLUTION
The period between 1991-2003 is called 'Golden Revolution' because during this period, the planned
investment in horticulture became highly productive and the sector emerged as a sustainable livelihood
option. India has emerged as a world leader in producing of variety of fruits like mangoes, bananas,
coconuts, cashew, nuts and number of spices and is the second largest producer of fruits and
vegetables.

ORGANIC FARMING
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure,
compost and biological pest control. This method avoids the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and
genetically modified organisms.
 Organic farming is the process of producing safe and healthy food, without leaving any adverse
impact on the environment.
 In short, organic agriculture is a whole system of farming that restores, maintains and enhances
the ecological balance.
 There is an increasing demand for organically grown food, to enhance food safety throughout
the world.

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Benefits of Organic farming
The benefits of organic farming are:-
i) Economical farming: - Organic farming offers a means to substitute costlier agricultural inputs
(such as HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc.) with locally produced cheaper organic
inputs.
ii) Generate income through exports: - It generates income through international exports as demand
for organically grown crops is on a rise.
iii) Provide Healthy Food: - It provides healthy food as organically grown food has more nutritional
value than food grown through chemical farming.
iv) Source of Employment: - Organic farming generates more employment opportunities as it requires
more labour input than conventional farming.
v) Safety to environment: - The produce of organic farming is pesticide free and is produced in an
environmentally sustainable way. Organic farming is Eco- friendly.

Limitation of Organic farming

i) Less popular: - Organic farming needs to be popularised by creating awareness and willingness on
the part of farmers, for adoption of new technology. There is serious need for an appropriate
agriculture policy to promote organic farming.
ii) Lack of infrastructure and marketing facilities: - Organic farming faces problem of inadequate
infrastructure and marketing facilities.
iii) Low yield: - Organic farming has a lesser yield in the initial years as compared to modern
agriculture farming. As a result, small and marginal farmers find difficult to adapt to large scale
production.
iv) Shorter food life: - Organic producer has shorter shelf life as compared to sprayed produce.
v) Limited choice of crops: - The choice in production of off-season crops is quite limited in organic
farming.

Q. How does organic farming promote sustainable development?

Ans. Organic farming is the process of producing safe and healthy food, without leaving any adverse
impact on the environment. The method avoids the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and genetically
modified organisms. It means, organic farming promote sustainable development as it restores,
maintains and enhances the ecological balance. The produce of organic farming is pesticide- free and is
produced in an environmentally sustainable way.

Q. Enlist some problems faced by farmers during initial years of organic farming?
Ans. Some of the problems faced by farmers during the initial years of organic farming are:
i) In the initial years, organic farming has a lesser yield as compared to modern agricultural farming.
As a result, small and marginal farmers find difficult to adapt to large- scale production.
ii) Organic farming faces problems of inadequate infrastructure and marketing facilities.
iii) Organic produce has a shorter shelf life as compared to sprayed produce.
iv) The choice in production of off-season crops is quite limited in organic farming.
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Q. Differentiate between institutional credit and non- institutional credit?
Ans. Institutional credit can be differentiated from non- institutional credit as under:

S.no. Institutional credit Non-institutional credit

1 Institutional credit is provided by banks,
cooperatives, etc.
2 It is mainly provided for productive
purposes.
3 Since, it is regulated by the RBI; rate of
interest generally remains low.
Non- Institutional credit is provided by money
lenders, traders, etc.
It is provided both for productive and non-
productive purposes.
Non- institutional credit is generally very expensive
because, it remains unregulated by the RBI.

Q. Explain the role of non- farm employment in promoting rural diversification?

Ans. The following are the importance of non-farm employment opportunities in promoting rural
diversification:
a) There is a greater risk in depending exclusively on farming for livelihood. Non- farm employment
provides productive sustainable livelihood options to rural people.
b) Most of the agricultural employment activities are concentrated in the kharif season. However
during the Rabi season, it becomes difficult to find gainful employment in the areas where there
are inadequate irrigation facilities. So, diversification into non-farm areas proves to be crucial.
c) Non- farm activities has several segments. Some segments of non- farm activities possess
dynamic linkages that permit healthy growth.
d) The output of non-farm sectors act as an input for the large scale industries for example, agro-
processing industries, leather industries, etc.

Q. What is AGMARK?
Ans. It is label which is put on standardized Agricultural products under the supervision of government
officials. It is a short form of Agricultural marketing.

Q. What is Micro Finance?

Ans. Micro Finance (a loan upto 25000) is a credit scheme extended to the poor through Self-Help
Groups (SHGs).

Q. What is cooperative marketing?

Ans. It refers to a system in which marketing societies are formed by farmers to sell the output
collectively and take advantage of collective bargaining.

Q. Which states are major producers for Marine products?

Ans. Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu are the major producers of Marine products.

Q. What is the share of total fish production in the total GDP?

Ans. 0.8 percent.

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Q. What is minimum support price?
Ans. It is the minimum price at which the government is willing to purchase food grains from the
farmers.

Q. What is subsistence farming?

Ans. It is the farming done for production of those crops which are meant for self- consumption by the
farming families.

Q. By which year Government of India has set a goal of doubling farmers income?
Ans. By 2022.

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