Narrowing the Credit Divide: Strategies to Bridge Credit Gap among the Dairy Farming Community of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Access to institutional credit is essential for sustaining and enhancing the growth of dairy farming, particularly in state like Tamil Nadu where majority of farmers belongs to the marginal and small categories. The study was conducted in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, which categorized the state into high and low institutional credit disbursal districts, selecting Coimbatore and Perambalur as representative districts to propose tailored strategies for improving various aspects of institutional credit among dairy farmers. Strategic statements were developed using insights from previous literature, experiences from various credit programs in India and abroad, and expert recommendations. These strategies were organized into hierarchies and stages, and then compared pairwise. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed as a decision-making tool to identify the most effective strategies for bridging the credit gap, enhancing credit adoption, reducing credit diversion, and improving access to institutional credit among the dairy farming community in Tamil Nadu.