Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare

The Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare (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".

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 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