Productivity enhancement may lead to further reduction in agri sector NPA: NABARD Chairman

New Delhi: Non-performing assets in the agriculture sector have dropped significantly, and boosting crop productivity alongside credit enhancement will drive further improvement, Nabard Chairman Shaji Krishnan V said on Thursday.

Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, he said non-performing assets (NPAs) in the agriculture sector were in double digits at one point in time, which have come down to single digits now.

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"It can further improve with an increase in productivity, which has to happen. This would increase farmers' paying capacity, and then we need to have insurance and credit enhancements...so those are the things we are working on," he said.

Pointing out that the growth in the agriculture sector is around 3.5 percent, he said that to become Viksit Bharat, this has to be accelerated.

"So, when India has to grow very fast, the Viksit Bharat, the ambition of the government of India, every section of the society needs to grow. Otherwise, there will be some sort of divide," he said.

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Talking about Agri Stack, he said it is being developed as a three-layer foundational framework, consisting of an identification layer, which is Aadhaar, a land layer, and an agriculture activity layer.

Nabaard has implemented a loan origination system that integrates both Agri Stack and India Stack, he said.

This allows for on-demand Kisan Credit Card loans for about 7.5 crore farmers, he added.

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