IBPS SO Agricultural Field Officer (Scale I), CRP SPL-XV (2025) · India · Institute of Banking Personnel Selection
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersHow farmers and rural enterprises borrow, how lenders judge them, and the institutions that make up rural credit. The single highest cross-exam topic in this track.
In the exams: agricultural master's entrance examinations, agricultural economics (heavy); agricultural economics PhD entrance and fellowship examinations, agricultural finance (heavy); agricultural development bank officer recruitment (heavy); agricultural field officer recruitment in banking, agricultural finance (heavy); central bank officer recruitment economic and social issues papers (reported)
How our questions for IBPS SO Agricultural Field Officer, CRP SPL-XV spread across the units of Agricultural Finance, Credit & Rural Banking. Difficulty: 25 easy, 27 medium, 5 hard.
| Seasonal crop-credit products | 8 | |
| Scale of finance | 7 | |
| Classification of credit: short, medium and long term; production and investment | 5 | |
| Area-based lead-bank arrangements | 5 | |
| Estimating credit needs | 4 | |
| Rural and community banks | 4 | |
| Interest subsidies for farm credit | 4 | |
| Priority-sector lending | 4 | |
| 3Rs/4Rs, 5Cs and 7Ps of credit | 3 | |
| Repayment plans: amortised, even and balloon | 3 | |
| History of agricultural finance | 2 | |
| Central banks and development finance institutions | 2 | |
| Multi-agency approach and the credit gap | 2 | |
| Microfinance, self-help and savings groups, and MFIs | 2 | |
| Role of credit in agriculture | 1 | |
| Bank nationalisation | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Which classification of agricultural credit is based on the economic purpose of the loan rather than on its term, security or lender?
D. Production, investment, consumption and marketing credit
Purpose-based classes describe what the loan finances: current operations, fixed capital, household needs or holding produce for sale. Term classes follow the length of the loan, secured/unsecured follows collateral, and institutional/non-institutional follows the type of lender.
Which pair of countries both nationalised their large commercial banks in 1982?
B. France and Mexico
France nationalised its remaining large banks in 1982 (after an earlier round in 1945) and Mexico nationalised its banks in September 1982 during the debt crisis. India's nationalisations were in 1969 and 1980.
The main purpose of an area approach to rural credit is to
A. Make one body accountable for each district's credit plan
An area approach assigns responsibility for assessing needs and coordinating lenders in a territory; it does not create a lending monopoly, set rates or abolish cooperatives.
An area-based district credit plan is normally built on
C. A sector survey of credit potential
District plans start from an assessment of credit potential by sector (crops, livestock, infrastructure, enterprise), which is then shared among lenders. Deposit targets, waivers and national GDP do not show local credit needs.
Which is the main risk of area-based credit planning?
C. Planning that becomes target-chasing
When plan targets become the goal, lenders may book loans to meet them without regard to quality. Area planning does not create a monopoly, set rates or replace appraisal.
In an area approach, a provincial or state-level bankers' committee mainly
C. Coordinates lenders and reviews credit-plan progress
The provincial committee is a coordination and review forum. Rate setting and licensing belong to the central bank, and the committee itself does not lend.
A farmer with a revolving credit line draws 100,000 currency units for 4 months, then keeps 50,000 of it outstanding for a further 2 months before clearing it. At 7 per cent a year simple interest, the interest payable, in currency units, is about
B. 2,917
Interest runs only on the drawn balance: 100,000 x 7% x 4/12 = 2,333 plus 50,000 x 7% x 2/12 = 583, total about 2,917. 7,000 charges a full year on 100,000; 2,333 ignores the last two months; 3,500 charges six months on 100,000.
Which is the standard working-capital product of commercial farm lenders in North America, Europe and Australia?
B. An operating line secured on crops, stock and receivables
Operating lines are revolving short-term facilities that finance seasonal costs and are repaid from sales. Mortgages and warehouse loans are long-term investment credit, and a rotating savings association is an informal group, not a lender's product.
An interest subsidy (subvention) on farm loans is best described as
D. A state payment so lenders can charge farmers less
Subvention compensates the lender (or rebates the borrower) so that the farmer pays below the normal rate. A rate cap without compensation is a ceiling, and cancelling debt is a waiver.
A bank must lend 12 per cent of its adjusted net credit of 5,000 million currency units to weaker sections and has lent 450 million to them. Its shortfall is
A. 150 million
Target = 12% x 5,000 million = 600 million; shortfall = 600 - 450 = 150 million. 600 million is the target, 450 million the achievement, and 1,050 million wrongly adds them.
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