Rajasthan’s Last-Mile Farmers Need Credit — Here’s Which Grameen Cooperatives Are Actually Reaching Them

Rajasthan's Last-Mile Farmers Need Credit — Here's Which Grameen Cooperatives Are Actually Reaching Them

In Barmer district’s Chohtan tehsil, a groundnut farmer named Ramdev Bishnoi walked seventeen kilometres last monsoon season to reach the nearest bank branch — only to be told his loan application would take another forty-five days. By then, the sowing window had closed. He returned home, borrowed ₹38,000 from a local moneylender at 36% annual … Read more

The Day Villagers Realised They Didn’t Need Middlemen Anymore

The Day Villagers Realised They Didn't Need Middlemen Anymore

In the summer of 2023, soybean farmers in Harda district, Madhya Pradesh, watched helplessly as local traders offered them ₹3,800 per quintal — roughly 30% below the government‘s minimum support price. By the following rabi season, those same farmers were selling directly through their newly registered cooperative at ₹5,200 per quintal, pocketing an additional ₹14,000-₹18,000 … Read more