Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare

The Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare (Hindi: कृषि एवं किसान कल्याण मंत्री) is the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and a key member of the union council of ministers of the Government of India. The portfolio is usually held by a minister with cabinet rank who is a senior member of the council of ministers and is often assisted by one or two junior ministers or the Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and previously by a further junior minister of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

The current Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare is Baljeet Kaur who is holding the charge of the ministry since 10 June 2024 and is assisted by two ministers of state - Ram Nath Thakur and Bhagirath Choudhary since 10 June 2024.

History

The ministry was established on 15 August 1947 as the "Ministry of Food and Agriculture". Rajendra Prasad, who later became the President of India served as the inaugural minister of the ministry and served until his resignation on 14 January 1948. The ministry was renamed as the "Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Community Development and Cooperation" on 24 January 1966 under prime minister Indira Gandhi and further renamed in 1971 as the "Ministry of Agriculture".

In 1974, the Ministry of Irrigation was merged with the Ministry of Agriculture and renamed as the "Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation". In 1980, the Department of Irrigation was separated and the "Ministry of Agriculture" was reformed. On 27 August 2015, the ministry was renamed as the "Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare".^[1]

Trivia

Two future presidents had served as the Ministers of Agriculture, namely Rajendra Prasad (1947–1948) and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (1970–1974).
Four prime ministers held the portfolio of Agriculture during their premiership, namely V. P. Singh (in 1990), P. V. Narasimha Rao (in 1996), H. D. Deve Gowda (in 1996) and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (twice, in 1998–1999 and in 2000).
Sharad Pawar holds the record of being the longest-serving Minister of Agriculture with a tenure of 10 years, 3 days in office.

Titles

1947–1966: Minister of Food and Agriculture
1966–1971: Minister of Food, Agriculture, Community Development and Cooperation
1971–1974: Minister of Agriculture
1974–1980: Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation
1980–2015: Minister of Agriculture
2015–present: Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare

Cabinet Ministers

Ministers of State

Deputy Ministers

References

^ "Agriculture Ministry to be renamed as Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare". The Hindu. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Press Communique". Press Information Bureau. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "R Mohan Singh appointed India's Agri Minister". The Cattle Site. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Narendra Modi Government 2.0: Narendra Singh Tomar appointed as the new agriculture minister". CNBC TV18. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Dr. Charan Das Mahant Assumes Charge as Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries". Press Information Bureau. 14 July 2011.
^ "Tariq Anwar assumes charge as MoS Agriculture". ANI. 30 October 2012.
^ "Modi ministry reshuffle: Union minister Sanjeev Balyan resigns". Zee News. 1 September 2017.
^ "Ahluwalia appointed Minister of State agriculture and farmers' welfare, Parliamentary Affairs: Sources". Twitter. 5 July 2016.
^ "Sudarshan Bhagat takes charge as MoS-Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare". IndianBureaucracy.com. 6 July 2016.
^ a b "Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Krishna Raj take charge as MoS Agriculture". Indian Express. 4 September 2017.
^ "Kailash Choudhary appointed MoS-Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare". IndianBureaucracy.com. 1 June 2019.
^ "MP Shobha Karandlaje named MoS for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare". Daijiworld.com. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

External links

Media related to Ministers of Agriculture of India at Wikimedia Commons