Out of the 74.97 million SFMF in the country, only about 46.3 per cent, i.e., 34.70 million farmer households had access to credit, either from formal or informal sources. The most important source of credit for farmers, in terms of percentage of outstanding loan amount, was banks (36%), followed by moneylenders (26%).
This indicates that a vast majority of farmers are still deprived of credit from formal financial institutions. Dependence on usurious moneylenders continues to afflict the rural poor. Background for the revised guidelines 8.