Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Kisan Credit Card Scheme: A Data-Driven Analysis from Karnataka, India

The study detailing the performance of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme in Karnataka is notably important for the scientific community, especially those focused on agricultural finance, policy-making, and rural development. By examining the scheme's implementation, growth, and outcomes, the study contributes to understanding how financial initiatives can enhance agricultural productivity, financial inclusion, and economic resilience among farmers. The study examined the performance of the KCC scheme by considering the number of operative cards and the amount outstanding from the financial year 2017 to 2022. The study is descriptive as well as inferential in nature. It is found that the number of operative KCCs and the amount outstanding have grown by 2.98 percent and 31.26 percent on an annual basis respectively over a period of five years. Co-operative banks were found to be ranked first having 66 percent of operative KCCs and 82 percent of the amount outstanding during the year 2021-22 due to the initiation of the Government of Karnataka under the KCC saturation drive. The KCC scheme is one of the agriculture credit delivery instruments that offers several benefits, helps in uplifting the standards of living of farmers, encourages them to shift from subsistence farming to commercial farming by providing timely credit, and also brings them under the purview of financial inclusion. The study suggested that outreach of the KCC scheme should be improved in terms of card issuance as the CAGR was only 2.98 percent during the study period. A comparison study of the growth of the KCC scheme between various states can be done to address the regional growth of the scheme.