Punjab and Haryana, often regarded as northern India’s food bowl states, rank third and fourth in the country in terms of average agricultural debt burden per farm household, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan provided the figures in the Lok Sabha while replying to a question from MP Kalipada Saren Kherwal.
Punjab reported an average outstanding loan of Rs 2.03 lakh per agricultural household, while Haryana stood at Rs 1.83 lakh. These figures are significantly higher than the national average of Rs 74,121 per agricultural family. Only two southern states surpass them: Andhra Pradesh (Rs 2.45 lakh) and Kerala (Rs 2.42 lakh).
The Minister noted that the national average debt per agricultural household has risen to Rs 74,121.
Among the lowest debt levels are Nagaland (Rs 1,750), Meghalaya (Rs 2,237), and Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 3,581). Union Territories collectively reported Rs 25,629 per farm family.
In the northern region, Rajasthan recorded Rs 1.13 lakh, Himachal Pradesh Rs 85,825, and Jammu and Kashmir Rs 30,435.
Other states with relatively higher debt include Tamil Nadu (Rs 1.06 lakh), Karnataka (Rs 1.26 lakh), and Telangana (Rs 1.52 lakh).
The Hindi heartland states—Bihar, Chhattisgarh (Rs 21,443), Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh—reported moderate debt levels ranging from Rs 21,000 to Rs 74,000 per family.
The Minister informed, “The average amount of outstanding loan per agricultural household in rural areas is estimated through a Situational Assessment Survey of farmer families conducted by the National Statistical Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.”
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