Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2965942 International Journal of Rural Development and Management Studies, Page Number 121-127, Volume 6, Number 1, January-June 2012, Serial Publications, ISSN: 0975- 0614 Page 1 of 12 Bank Finance and Agriculture Development: An Empirical Study *Dr. M. Venkatasubbaiah, Lecturer in Commerce Govt Degree College, Kanigiri, Prakasam (dist), AP, mvenkatphd@gmail.com ** Dr. R. Venkatamuni Reddy, Professor&Head, Anekant Institute of Management Studies (AIMS), Baramati, Pune (Dist), MH, rvmunireddy@gmail.com Abstract: This paper studies the impact of bank finance on Farmers on Employment Generation by age, education, cast, size, occupation in delta area and non delta area in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. We observed that in the delta area the sample branches provided finance to the farmers more than to those in the non delta area. The male beneficiaries are more in number in both the delta and non delta area than female beneficiaries. Cast wise those of the forward cast are 48 per cent in the delta area and 51 per cent in the non delta area. The percentage of incremental assets value is high in the delta area when compared to non delta area. Need for the Study: Several studies have been undertaken to evaluate the role of institutional finance for agriculture at the national level by individual researchers, financial institutions and Government. But area specific studies are comparatively limited in number. Such studies are of great importance on account of the vast, inter- regional variations of bank credit in developing countries like India. Even bank specific studies do not seem to have gone into the different operations of the branches located in Remote areas. The present study of Pinakini Grameena Bank in Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh is intended to fill this gap. A detailed analysis is made of the impact of Pinakini Grameena Bank finance on farm income, employment, asset creation and repayment performance. Objective of the Study 1. To analyze the impact of bank finance on Employment Generation of the sample beneficiaries Methodology and Sampling The 63 branches of Pinakini Grameena Bank, Nellore, are divided into two groups, those serving the farmers in the delta area and those serving in the non-delta area. There are 30 branches in the delta area and 33 branches in the non-delta area. A random sampling of 10 per cent of the total branches namely 6 branches in all was taken, representing 3 branches from each group. 200 farmers who borrowed loans from the bank during 2009-10 are selected randomly with probability proportional to the size sampling method (PPS sampling method) from the 6 sample branches and pre-tested schedules were canvassed among them and the relevant data was collected. Employment Generation Employment generation is an important objective of Pinakini Grameena Bank under its special sponsored programmes. The aim is to create more of self- employment than wage employment. Bank finance for agricultural activities led to an increase in cropping intensity in irrigated areas, particularly under labour intensive high-yielding varieties of crops. This resulted in employment generation among the sample beneficiaries in the post-loan period. Table 1. reveals that in the delta area the incremental mandays were 14 days for those of the below 20 years age group, 33 mandays for