A new survey, just a week ahead of the Union Budget 2019, says that loan schemes in India do not reach nearly 60 percent of the population in rural areas. It also pointed out that climate change is a major challenge for one in every five farmers.

A rural media platform Gaon Connection surveyed 18,000 rural respondents across 19 states that include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal and Telangana.

During its exploration of issues in the rural parts of the country, it found that a significant 59 percent of farmers could not avail any kind of loan scheme due to lack of proper information on the same. Among the rest, 25 percent of the farmers have opted for loans amounting to up to Rs 50,000 while 15 percent have taken loans of up to Rs 5 lakh.

As for their biggest challenges faced, 13 percent of the respondents said that high debt was a challenge and another 17 percent said that their concerns were the high input costs-that is high prices of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and other raw materials. Climate change issue was recognised by 19 percent of the farmers who said sudden and unexpected weather changes are now the biggest challenge to their crops.