Financial institutions have been exploring avenues for greater participation in the agriculture and rural development sectors. It may therefore be appropriate to refer to a few areas in urgent need of additional attention and investment.

Green Revolution technologies are scale-neutral but not resource-neutral. Inputs are needed for output and therefore market-purchased inputs become important in providing the needed soil and plant healthcare for higher yields. Hence, at that period in India's agricultural history, social scientists pointed out that small and marginal farmers will be excluded from the benefits of the Green Revolution, since they would not have the financial resources to buy the needed inputs. For example, about 25 kg of nitrogen would be needed for a one tonne yield in wheat. Fortunately, the Government of India initiated a Small and Marginal Farmers’ Programme specially to provide the needed credit and other essential inputs. After the nationalization of banks, priority was accorded to the provision of credit to small and marginal farmers. Without this timely support, the wheat revolution would not have become an inclusive revolution covering all farmers irrespective of the size of their holding.In fact, the smaller the farm greater is the need for marketable surplus, so that the farm family will have cash income to meet their multiple needs.

The emerging phase in agriculture will be based on integrating the principles of ecology and equity in technology development and dissemination. This is the pathway to an evergreen revolution leading to an increase in productivity in perpetuity without associated environmental harm. In recent years, the government has been stepping up the availability of credit for agriculture. However, the burden of indebtedness is still very high in rural India, leading to expanding exploitation of the rural masses in the credit market. Much of the credit intended for farmers goes through indirect channels like subsidies to companies and not directly to farmers. Some of the major problems with respect to the supply of credit to rural families are the inadequate supply of formal credit on the whole, imperfect and fragmented rural credit markets, and unequal distribution of credit, particularly with respect to region, class, caste and gender. In spite of the dominant role played by women in both the production and post-harvest phases of farming, they are denied credit because they lack the title to land.