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 Shivraj Singh Chouhan 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.
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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". In 2021, prime minister Narendra Modi announced that the Ministry of Co-operation has been carved out of from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfar.
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
1947–1951: Minister of Agriculture
1951–1966: 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
† Died in office
§ Re-appointed after a previous non-consecutive term