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 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.
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 (19471948) and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (19701974). 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 19981999 and in 2000). Sharad Pawar holds the record of being the longest-serving minister of agriculture with a tenure of in office.
Titles 19471951: Minister of Agriculture 19511966: Minister of Food and Agriculture 19661971: Minister of Food, Agriculture, Community Development and Cooperation 19711974: Minister of Agriculture 19741980: Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation 19802015: Minister of Agriculture 2015present: Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare
Cabinet ministers
Died in office Re-appointed after a previous non-consecutive term
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Minister of Food and Agriculture Rajendra Prasad 15 August 1947 14 January 1948 Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru Jairamdas Daulatram 19 January 1948 13 May 1950 Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi 13 May 1950 13 May 1952 Rafi Ahmed Kidwai 13 May 1952 24 October 1954 Nehru II Panjabrao Deshmukh(Minister without cabinet rank) 29 October 1954 25 November 1954 Ajit Prasad Jain 25 November 1954 17 April 1957 17 April 1957 24 August 1959 Nehru III S. K. Patil 24 August 1959 10 April 1962 10 April 1962 1 September 1963 Nehru IV Swaran Singh 1 September 1963 27 May 1964 27 May 1964 9 June 1964 Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda Chidambaram Subramaniam 9 June 1964 24 January 1966 Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda Minister of Food, Agriculture, Community Development and Cooperation Chidambaram Subramaniam 24 January 1966 13 March 1967 Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi Jagjivan Ram 13 March 1967 27 June 1970 Indira II Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 27 June 1970 2 May 1971 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Minister of Agriculture Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 2 May 1971 3 July 1974 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Indira Gandhi Chidambaram Subramaniam 3 July 1974 10 October 1974 Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Jagjivan Ram 10 October 1974 2 February 1977 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi(Prime Minister) 3 February 1977 24 March 1977 Morarji Desai(Prime Minister) 24 March 1977 28 March 1977 Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai Parkash Singh Badal 28 March 1977 17 June 1977 Shiromani Akali Dal Surjit Singh Barnala 18 June 1977 28 July 1979 Brahm Prakash 28 July 1979 14 January 1980 Indian National Congress (Urs) Charan Charan Singh Minister of Agriculture Rao Birender Singh 14 January 1980 31 December 1984 Indian National Congress Indira IV Indira Gandhi Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi Buta Singh 31 December 1984 12 May 1986 Rajiv II Gurdial Singh Dhillon 12 May 1986 14 February 1988 Bhajan Lal 14 February 1988 2 December 1989 Chaudhary Devi Lal(Deputy Prime Minister) 2 December 1989 1 August 1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh Vishwanath Pratap Singh(Prime Minister) 1 August 1990 10 November 1990 Chaudhary Devi Lal(Deputy Prime Minister) 21 November 1990 21 June 1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Balram Jakhar 21 June 1991 17 January 1996 Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao(Prime Minister) 17 January 1996 7 February 1996 Jagannath Mishra 7 February 1996 16 May 1996 Suraj Bhan 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee H. D. Deve Gowda(Prime Minister) 1 June 1996 29 June 1996 Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda Chaturanan Mishra 29 June 1996 21 April 1997 Communist Party of India 21 April 1997 19 March 1998 Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 19 March 1998 13 October 1999 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee 13 October 1999 22 November 1999 Vajpayee III Nitish Kumar 22 November 1999 3 March 2000 Samata Party Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 3 March 2000 6 March 2000 Bharatiya Janata Party Sundar Lal Patwa 6 March 2000 27 May 2000 Nitish Kumar 27 May 2000 22 July 2001 Samata Party Ajit Singh 22 July 2001 24 May 2003 Rashtriya Lok Dal Rajnath Singh 24 May 2003 22 May 2004 Bharatiya Janata Party Sharad Pawar 23 May 2004 26 May 2014 Nationalist Congress Party Manmohan I Manmohan Singh Manmohan II Radha Mohan Singh 27 May 2014 27 August 2015 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Radha Mohan Singh 27 August 2015 30 May 2019 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Narendra Singh Tomar 31 May 2019 7 December 2023 Modi II Arjun Munda 7 December 2023 9 June 2024 Shivraj Singh Chouhan 10 June 2024 Incumbent Modi III
Ministers of state
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Minister of State for Food and Agriculture Panjabrao Deshmukh 17 April 1952 10 April 1962 Indian National Congress Nehru III Jawaharlal Nehru Ram Subhag Singh 8 May 1962 27 May 1964 Nehru IV Alungal Mathai Thomas 21 November 1963 27 May 1964 Ram Subhag Singh 27 May 1964 9 June 1964 Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda Alungal Mathai Thomas 9 June 1964 13 June 1964 Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri Minister of State for Food, Agriculture, Community Development and Cooperation Panampilly Govinda Menon 24 January 1966 13 March 1967 Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi Annasaheb Shinde Patil 13 March 1967 18 March 1971 Indira II M. S. Gurupadaswamy 5 June 1967 17 October 1969 Annasaheb Shinde Patil 18 March 1971 2 May 1971 Indira III Minister of State for Agriculture Sher Singh Kadyan 2 May 1971 12 January 1974 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Indira Gandhi Annasaheb Shinde Patil 2 May 1971 10 October 1974 Buddha Priya Maurya 11 January 1974 10 October 1974 Minister of State for Agriculture and Irrigation Annasaheb Shinde Patil 10 October 1974 24 March 1977 Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Indira Gandhi Shah Nawaz Khan 10 October 1974 24 March 1977 Bhanu Pratap Singh 14 August 1977 15 July 1979 Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai Nathuram Mirdha 4 August 1979 25 October 1979 Janata Party (Secular) Charan Charan Singh M. V. Krishnappa 4 August 1979 14 January 1980 Minister of State for Agriculture R. V. Swaminathan 14 January 1980 29 January 1983 Indian National Congress Indira IV Indira Gandhi Baleshwar Ram 16 January 1982 29 January 1983 Arif Mohammad Khan 29 January 1983 7 February 1984 Yogendra Makwana 29 January 1983 31 October 1984 4 November 1984 31 December 1984 Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi Chandulal Chandrakar 1 January 1985 27 January 1986 Rajiv II K. Natwar Singh(Fertilizers) 25 September 1985 22 October 1986 Yogendra Makwana 25 September 1985 14 February 1988 Ramanand Yadav 12 May 1986 14 February 1988 R. Prabhu 22 October 1986 2 December 1989 Hari Krishna Shastri 14 February 1988 2 December 1989 Shyamlal Yadav 14 February 1988 2 December 1989 Janardhana Poojary 14 February 1988 2 December 1989 Nitish Kumar 23 April 1990 10 November 1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh Upendra Nath Verma 23 April 1990 10 November 1990 Jayantilal Shah 21 November 1990 25 April 1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Ram Bahadur Singh 21 November 1990 21 June 1991 Mullappally Ramachandran 21 June 1991 17 January 1993 Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao Kahnu Charan Lenka 21 June 1991 18 January 1993 Arvind Netam 18 January 1993 20 February 1996 S. Krishna Kumar 19 February 1993 13 May 1995 Mohd. Ayub Khan 15 September 1995 16 May 1996 Ummareddy Venkateswarlu 1 June 1996 29 June 1996 Telugu Desam Party Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda Samudrala Venugopal Chary 9 June 1997 19 March 1998 Telugu Desam Party Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral Sompal Shastri 19 March 1998 13 October 1999 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hukmdev Narayan Yadav 13 October 1999 27 May 2000 Vajpayee III Syed Shahnawaz Hussain 13 October 1999 27 May 2000 S. B. P. B. K. Satyanarayana Rao 13 October 1999 29 September 2000 Thounaojam Chaoba Singh 27 May 2000 1 September 2001 Debendra Pradhan 27 May 2000 29 January 2003 Shripad Naik 30 September 2000 2 November 2001 Hukmdev Narayan Yadav 2 November 2001 22 May 2004 Kantilal Bhuria 23 May 2004 22 May 2009 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh Akhilesh Prasad Singh 23 May 2004 22 May 2009 Rashtriya Janata Dal Mohammed Taslimuddin 25 May 2004 22 May 2009 K. V. Thomas 29 May 2009 19 January 2011 Indian National Congress Manmohan II Harish Rawat 19 January 2011 28 October 2012 Arun Subhashchandra Yadav 19 January 2011 12 July 2011 Charan Das Mahant 12 July 2011 26 May 2014 Tariq Anwar 28 October 2012 26 May 2014 Nationalist Congress Party Sanjeev Balyan 27 May 2014 27 August 2015 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Mohan Kundariya 9 November 2014 27 August 2015 Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Sanjeev Balyan 27 August 2015 3 September 2017 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Mohan Kundariya 27 August 2015 5 July 2016 S. S. Ahluwalia 5 July 2016 3 September 2017 Sudarshan Bhagat Parshottam Rupala 5 July 2016 30 May 2019 Krishna Raj 3 September 2017 30 May 2019 Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Parshottam Rupala 31 May 2019 7 July 2021 Modi II Kailash Choudhary 31 May 2019 9 June 2024 Shobha Karandlaje 7 July 2021 9 June 2024 Bhagirath Choudhary 10 June 2024 Incumbent Modi III Ram Nath Thakur Janata Dal (United)
Deputy ministers