As per the “Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers” conducted as a part of the 59th round of National Sample Survey (January–December 2003), at an all-India level, estimated number of rural households was 147.90 million, of whom 60.4% were farmer households. Out of this, 74.97 million households were small and marginal farmer households (SFMF).
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%).