UTILIZATION OF ZARAI TARAQIATI BANK AGRICULTURAL CREDIT IN RURAL AREAS OF TEHSILE RAWALPINDI: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Abstract

Agriculture is considered as backbone in the economy of Pakistan contributing 24 percent of GDP. Credit is basic input for any agricultural activity. The financial need of the farmers has been increased to full the requirement of agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, labor wages, fuel and transportation expanse etc). This study highlights the utilization of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited agricultural credit on purchasing of basic inputs and its impact on per acre wheat production in the study areas. The Cobb Douglas production function was used for the analysis of the data. The findings show that most of the credit was utilized in purchasing of qualitative seeds, fertilizer by the total sample borrowers. The credit with labor and machinery were found positively significant on per acre wheat production with values 0.55, 0.36 and 0.30 respectively. The high value of R² is found 84.4% which presents that the credit, labor and machinery are positively affecting the productivity of wheat crop in rural areas of Tehsile Rawalpindi.