Dipjyoti Bharali -, Abhijit Borah, Tabaruque Hussain, Pankaj Bharali, Gina Naiding, Animesh Pujari
The evolution of agricultural credit in India represents a century-long institutional struggle to displace informal usury with a formal, scalable and equitable financial architecture. In the specific context of Assam, this study examines the technical implementation and governance of the credit cycle, focusing on the period between 2024 and 2026. The primary problems identified include persistent regional disparities, where districts like Sribhumi and Dima Hasao exhibit Credit-Deposit Ratios below fifty percent. To investigate these issues, the research employs a dual-stage review-cum-analytical methodology, first analyzing secondary policy documents from the Reserve Bank of India and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, followed by an assessment of district-wise credit absorption patterns and annual credit plan achievements. Major findings reveal that while the overall state Credit-Deposit Ratio is healthy at seventy-one percent, institutional bottlenecks such as defective land records and risk-aversion among bank managers lead to high rejection rates for Kisan Credit Card applications. Furthermore, farmers face a theoretical loss of seven hundred sixty-six Rupees per quintal for paddy when cultivation costs are measured against state-mandated minimum support prices. The study concludes that although the credit system has achieved significant digitization through the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana and smart card integration, institutional credit remains a temporary fix unless price-cost parity is achieved. Future progress requires the adoption of a green scale of finance and the prioritization of collective infrastructure credit for Farmer Producer Companies to ensure the resilience of small and marginal farmers.