India’s agricultural sector has experienced robust growth, averaging 4.7% annually over the last five years. A major factor driving this expansion is the rise of High-Value Agriculture (HVA), which includes livestock, fisheries, and horticulture. Despite its success, HVA faces significant hurdles, including limited access to formal credit, poor post-harvest infrastructure, and inadequate risk management tools. While overall agricultural credit has increased, it remains unevenly distributed, leaving many small farmers to rely on informal lenders. To bridge this gap, a structured, evidence-based approach is needed to identify financing bottlenecks, infrastructure shortfalls, and institutional inefficiencies that constrain HVA growth.
This study aims to address these issues by systematically mapping HVA value chains such as fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, and livestock, in selected districts of 3 key states (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat). The objective is to diagnose financing gaps, infrastructure shortfalls, and institutional challenges, and to develop actionable models that strengthen farmer access to affordable credit, reduce dependence on informal lending, and enable sustainable value chain development.
