Extension of Kisan Credit Card Scheme for farmers engaged in Animal Husbandry and Fisheries
- The Reserve Bank of India has issued Master Circular on Kisan Credit Card Scheme.
- It has extended KCC facility to farmers engaged in Animal Husbandry and Fisheries for their working capital requirements.
Kisan Credit Card Scheme
- It aims at providing adequate and timely credit support from the banking system under a single window with flexible and simplified procedures to the farmers individual/joint borrowers who are owner cultivators, tenant farmers, oral lessees & sharecroppers, Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) of farmers including tenant farmers, sharecroppers etc.
Salient features of the Scheme
- Eligible farmers to be provided with a Kisan Credit Card and a pass book or card-cum-pass book.
- Revolving cash credit facility involving any number of drawls and repayments within the limit.
- Limit to be fixed on the basis of operational land holding, cropping pattern and scale of finance.
- Entire production credit needs for the full year plus ancillary activities related to crop production to be considered while fixing limits.
- Security, margin, rate of interest, etc. as per RBI norms.
- Crop loans disbursed under KCC Scheme for notified crops are covered under Crop Insurance Scheme, to protect the interest of the farmer against loss of crop yield caused by natural calamities, pest attacks etc
Activities covered under KCC
- To meet the short term credit requirements for cultivation of crops;
- Post-harvest expenses;
- Produce marketing loan;
- Consumption requirements of farmer household;
- Working capital for maintenance of farm assets and activities allied to agriculture;
- Investment credit requirement for agriculture and allied activities like pump sets, sprayers, dairy animals, floriculture, horticulture etc
- Short term credit requirements of rearing of animals, birds, fish, shrimp, other aquatic organisms, capture of fish.
Other features of scheme
- Besides the mandatory crop insurance, the KCC holder should have the option to take benefit of any type of Assets Insurance, Accident Insurance (including PAIS), and Health Insurance (wherever product is available) and have premium paid through his KCC account.
Advantages of the KCC Scheme to the farmers
- Simplifies disbursement procedures
- Removes rigidity regarding cash
- No need to apply for a loan for every crop
- Assured availability of credit at any time enabling reduced interest burden for the farmer.
- Helps buy seeds, fertilisers at farmer's convenience and choice
- Helps buy on cash-avail discount from dealers
- Credit facility for 3 years – no need for seasonal appraisal
- Maximum credit limit based on agriculture income
- Any number of withdrawals subject to credit limit
- Repayment only after harvest
- Rate of interest as applicable to agriculture advance
- Security, margin and documentation norms as applicable to agricultural advance
- Access to adequate and timely credit to farmers
RuPay Kisan Credit Cards
- Special Project Unit- Kisan Credit Card (SPU-KCC) was setup by NABARD in 2013
- Its mandate was to encourage cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks across the country to issue Rupay KCC debit cards
- The overarching goal was to develop cashless ecosystem by enabling the farming community to avail all new banking facilities at par with urban area of the country