International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Subhash Chander, Vinod Kumari and Bas Kaur

abstract
International organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have been actively involved in supporting agricultural development programs globally. The concept of providing credit facilities to farmers is not unique to India and has historical roots in various countries. However, the specific program known as the "Kisan Credit Card" is unique to India. In the financial year 2022, over 10 million credit cards were operative under the KCC Scheme in Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra (6.9 million) and Andhra Pradesh (6.2 million). The aim of this article is to know the sociological appraisal of KCC in rural farming communities in Haryana along with causes, utilization and payment patterns, factors affecting, advantages and constraints. The study was conducted on 140 farmers in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts of Haryana in 2022-23. It was found in the field of the study that farmers had taken the KCC amount of the loan for productive and unproductive purposes. More than two-fifths of the farmers (41.43%) had taken the KCC loan amount between Rs. 2,00,000 - Rs. 3,25,000 in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts. The maximum number of farmers (46.43%) had taken the KCC loan amount for performing social ceremonies and house construction (22.86%) in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts. They were diverting the KCC amount of the loan from productive to unproductive. It was also found that farmers were repaying loans at a high rate of interest on the KCC amount. Nearly two-fifth of the farmers (39.29%) could not repay due to repayment of previous loans, followed by crop failure (32.14%) and performing social ceremonies (23.57%) in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts. It was also suggested that awareness should be created among farmers about the KCC amount of the loan.