The necessity of rural finance was felt to provide protection and reliance to rural people who rely highly on informal sources of finance like moneylenders, landlords, traders etc. who exploit borrowers by charging exorbitant rate of interest and force farmers to sell their product at low price to them. Rural people also face the risk of unpredictable production of crops due to high dependency on monsoon. The problems of finance lead to lack of seeds, fertilizers, water supply and other facilities which result in rural ineptness. Rural banks enhance and improve banking facilities to semi urban, rural and other untapped markets. Rural banks provide finance to the weaker sections of society like small farmers, rural artisans, small producers, rural laborers etc. The banks in rural areas help the farmers in dealing with their financial needs and help in providing secured financial assistance to agriculture in India. The present study focuses on on the appraisal of the Agricultural Cash Credit (Crop Loans) provided by Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) in the rural areas of Narsipatnam, Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.

KEY WORDS: Agricultural cash credit , Crop Loans, NPAs, AP Grameena Vikas Bank