Socio-economic profile and determinants of credit borrowing among cotton growers in Amravati district

Abstract:

The present study was undertaken to examine the socio-economic characteristics and factors influencing loan borrowing among selected cotton farmers in Amravati district of Maharashtra. Primary data were collected from 90 cotton farmers during the agricultural year 2024-25 through personal interviews. The socio-economic characteristics were analysed using tabular and percentage analysis, while multiple regression analysis was used to identify the factors influencing loan borrowing. The results revealed that the majority of farmers belonged to the medium landholding group and had moderate family income. The regression analysis showed that annual Income had a positive and significant influence on loan borrowing, whereas rate of interest and purpose of loan had a negative and significant influence. The model explained 84 per cent of the variation in loan borrowing, with an R-square value of 0.84. The study suggests that timely and affordable institutional credit should be made available to cotton farmers to meet their agricultural financial requirements.