In order to deliver on the promise of agriculture and to set it firmly on a longer term growth path, fundamentally different approaches from the ones that have been taken in the past are called for. Merely changing ownership, imposing regulatory requirements, launching subsidised but poorly designed products, providing refinance at low rates of interest and exhorting financial services providers to do more in rural India is unlikely to achieve much if the preconditions for an orderly functioning of these markets are not put in place first. The creation of these preconditions is likely to take time but offers the only way forward if one wants to place the entire rural credit and risk management system on a firm footing allowing it to become a strong partner in the delivery of the risk management products and services and credit required for the growth of agriculture.