Insight - Indian farmers driven to debt as banks turn risk-averse during pandemic

Major sector: A woman displays her lentil harvest in Uttar Pradesh. Agriculture accounts for near 15% of India’s US$2.8 trillion economy and is a source of livelihood for more than half of its 1.3 billion people. — AP

LAST month, Dnyaneshwar Siddhanth, a farmer from India’s western state of Maharashtra, was in desperate need of money to buy seed and fertiliser as the monsoon sowing season approached.

But after being rejected by his bank for a loan despite several attempts, Siddhanth finally borrowed 150,000 Indian rupees (US$2,021) from a moneylender at a rate of 60% annually.