The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare ( ), formerly the Ministry of Agriculture, is a branch of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

and the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws related to agriculture in India. The three broad areas of scope for the Ministry are agriculture,

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

and co-operation. The agriculture ministry is headed by the

Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare The minister of agriculture and farmers' welfare () is the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and a key member of the Union Council of Ministers (India), union council of ministers of the Government of India. The portfoli ...

which is currently held by Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Kailash Choudhary and Shobha Karandlaje are the Ministers of State.

Sharad Pawar Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar (, pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �əɾəd̪ pəʋaːɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. Pawar served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for four terms and in the Union Council of Ministers ...

, serving from 22 May 2004 to 26 May 2014, has held the office of Minister of Agriculture for the longest continuous period till date.

Origins

Department of Revenue and Agriculture and Commerce was set up in June 1871 to deal with all the agricultural matters in India. Until this ministry was established, matters related to agriculture were within the portfolio of the Home Department. In 1881, Department of Revenue and Agriculture was set up to deal with combined portfolios of education, health, agriculture, revenue. However, In 1947, Department of Agriculture was redesignated as Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture was renamed as the Ministry for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare on 15 August 2015, to take care of farming community needs.

Structure and departments

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare consists of the following two departments. * Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare:- This Department's responsibilities are assigned to it in the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 as amended from time to time. Co-operation in this context refers largely to promote farmer co-operative movements. The Agriculture MMP is another program run by this depart that aims to replicate the agricultural e-governance projects being carried in different states at a national level and through a variety of media. * Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE):- This Department's responsibilities are basic and operation research, technology development, improving linkages between various organizations and state governments across the country. In addition, this department manages the

Indian Council of Agricultural Research The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture. Th ...

. The administrative head of the Ministry is the Secretaries of the two departments.

Agencies

# National Rainfed Area Authority #

National Horticulture Board The National Horticulture Board (NHB) of India is an organization under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, It serves as to encourage horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, t ...

# Coconut Development Board #Directorate of Oilseeds Development

Public Sector Undertakings

#Agrinnovate India Limited (AgIn)

Programs and initiatives

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

A leading program of the Ministry is the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, which was launched in 2007 on the recommendations of the National Development Council of India. This program sought to improve the overall state of agriculture in India by providing stronger planning, better coordination, and greater funding to improve productivity and overall output. The total budget for this program in 2009-10 was just over INR 38,000 crore.

Krishi Megh

Krishi Megh (National Agricultural Research and Education System-Cloud Infrastructure and Services) is a data recovery center of

(ICAR), the premier agricultural research organization of the Government of India. It will help in protecting the precious data of ICAR. It has been set up at National Academy of Agricultural Research and Management,

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. The portal aims at providing the high-quality and latest information in the agricultural sector to the stakeholders and also aims to provide relevant information to agricultural university students. It has been launched under the Government of India and

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

's Jointly funded project called National agricultural higher education project (NAHEP).

Schemes

* Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana * Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi * Farmer Income Protection Scheme (PM AASHA)

Reports and statistics

The Ministry publishes an annual report titled "Agricultural Statistics at a Glance". This gives a detailed picture of the state of India's agriculture including demographics of the agrarian sector, crop production (including state-wise and crop-wise break-ups), rural economic indicators such as credit, etc. The latest report has been published for 2014.

References

External links

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers' Welfare

India Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR)

Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices

Plant Quarantine Organisation of India

National Seeds Corporation Limited
*
Soil Health Card Portal

Fertilizer Quality Control System (FQCS)

Participatory Guarantee System
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

1948 establishments in India Ministries established in 1948 Agricultural organisations based in India