Eighteen per cent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit. That's the number that drives more RBI circulars, more Parliamentary questions, and more pre-election debt waivers than any other regulatory target in Indian banking. Agriculture is not just the largest PSL sub-category by target — it's the one where the gap between regulatory intention and ground-level reality is widest. The 165 notifications in this chain trace how the RBI defined, redefined, expanded, and tried to monitor what counts as "agricultural credit" — from crop loans to cold chains, from Kisan Credit Cards to Farmer Producer Organisations.
See also: Priority Sector Lending — The Complete Framework
For the story of why the 18% agriculture sub-target exists and what happens when banks fall short — see Why Banks Must Lend to Farmers.