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The Crop Maximization Project (CMP) was initiated with the help of Government of Pakistan which aimed at uplifting the socioeconomic conditions of the small farmers through various agricultural interventions. One of the important and essential interventions of CMP was micro-credit facilities to small farmers. The current research study focused on the core objective of the CMP aimed at finding out the effect of micro-credit intervention on small farmers and how their socioeconomic status improved during the span of the project. The project was introduced to the two Union Councils (UCs), the Rajjar-II and Sarki Tetara, of District Charsadda. These two UCs were purposively selected to collect 150 samples for the study. A wellstructured interview schedule was developed to collect data which was pre-tested before starting the actual process of data collection. The total sample size of the study area was 150, randomly selected for interviews. After the data analysis, it was found that the majority of the respondents (83.3%) who were small farmers acquired and utilized micro-credit in establishing income generating entrepreneurs, purchased quality seeds, fertilizers and small scale modern technology. These innovations brought substantial enhancement in their farm productivity and income that ultimately improved those farmers' socioeconomic position. However, 16.7% of the respondents' remains deprived of acquiring the micro-credit facilities of the project where no change in their livelihood conditions was observed. Overall, this study has significant association between the socioeconomic development of small farmers and micro-credit intervention of CMP. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that micro-credit facilities should be provided to all farmers under any prospective agriculture projects to achieve optimum results in farmers' farm productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Khushali Bank Limited (KBL) is one of the micro-credit organizations in Pakistan which are extending micro-credit services to small farmers with the aim to increase agricultural productivity and income of farmers. This study was conducted with the aim to assess the effects of micro-credit programme of KBL on agricultural productivity in district Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The study was conducted in three purposively selected villages namely; Nasir Kaly, Shankar and Kodeenaka. From the field surveys, it was found that majority of the respondents were smallholders or tenants. After procuring and properly utilizing credit, the yield of the major crops such as wheat, maize, and sugarcane and the resultant income of the respondents exhibited significant increase, as confirmed by higher t-values. The study concludes that the socio-economic conditions of the farmers can be improved if credit programme is extended which could benefit all farmers in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is facing twin challenges for revival of the economy and reduction in rural poverty. For this purpose the government has introduced number of initiatives, of which micro credit is very important. Moreover, about 52 percent of population is women folk, hence revival of economy and rural poverty reduction is almost impossible without their involvement. The present research was conducted at Technology Transfer Institute (PARC), AARI, Faisalabad during 2008-09 to find out the impact of micro-credit scheme implemented under Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP) on the socio-economic conditions of female population in the rural areas of district Faisalabad. Sample size of 120 women was taken randomly from the community organizations (COs) supervised by the PRSP. Primary data were collected through personal interviews with well-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. As a result of micro credit activity, livestock population at farm and landless families has increased significantly. About 27 percent females reported betterment in their social status in their family system as well as in village due to income generation activity triggered by micro-credit. Similarly, betterment in household consumption was also noticed both in farmers and landless families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]