How can self-help groups increase risk-bearing capacity of agricultural families?

Correct answer: Through savings, small loans and collective support

The direct answer is Option A: savings, small loans, and collective support. A self-help group, or SHG, is a group in which members save small amounts regularly and help one another financially and socially. Step 1: regular savings create a common fund. Step 2: a member facing crop failure, illness, or an urgent expense may receive a small loan. Step 3: the group can discuss problems, share information, and sometimes connect members with banks or schemes. Step 4: this reduces dependence on costly informal lenders and improves the family’s ability to face shocks. Option A is correct because savings and cooperation create financial and social support. Option B is wrong because every crop cannot necessarily be exported, and export is not the basic function of an SHG. Option C is impossible because groups cannot control weather. Option D is harmful and unrelated; land records should be protected, not deleted. Memory cue: SHG means “save together, borrow carefully, support together.”