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Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare

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The Ministry of Agriculture, a branch of the Government of India, is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to agriculture in India. The 3 broad areas of scope for the Ministry are agriculture, food processing and co-operation. The ministry is headed by Sharad Pawar.[1] Harish Rawat and Charan Das Mahant are the Ministers of State and P.K. Basu is the Secretary of State for Agriculture & Food Processing Industries.

Background

India is a largely agrarian economy - with 52.1% of the population estimated to directly or indirectly employed in agriculture and allied sectors in 2009-10. [2] Agriculture in India is of significance because of this as well as a history of food shortages and a growing population.

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.[3]

In 1881, Department of Revenue & 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.[4]

Structure & Departments

The Ministry of Agriculture consists of the following three Departments.[5]

  • Department of Agriculture and Co-operation. This Department's responsibilities are assigned to it in the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 as amended time to time. Co-operation in this context refers largely to promote farmer co-operative movements.[6]
  • Department of Agriculture Research and Education. This Department's responsibilities are basic and operation research, technology development, improving linkages between various organisations and state governments across the country. In addition, this Department manages the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.[7]
  • Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. This Department's primary responsibilities are to increase the productivity of livestock and aquaculture.[8]

The administrative head of the Ministry is the Secretary of Agriculture & Co-Operation.

Programs

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 co-ordination and greater funding to improve productivity and overall output. The total budget fo this program in 2009-10 was just over INR 380 billion.[9]

Reports & Statistics

The Ministry publishes an annual report titled "Agricultural Statistics At a Glance". This gives a detailed picture of the state of the 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 2010.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ [1] Sharad Pawar
  2. ^ Economic Survey 2010, p. 180.
  3. ^ http://agricoop.nic.in/Orghistory.pdf History of Ministry of Agriculture
  4. ^ [agricoop.nic.in/Orghistory.pdf agricoop.nic.in/Orghistory.pdf]. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ http://india.gov.in/sectors/agriculture/ministry_agriculture.php
  6. ^ http://www.india.gov.in/outerwin.php?id=http://agricoop.nic.in
  7. ^ http://www.india.gov.in/outerwin.php?id=http://dare.nic.in/
  8. ^ http://dahd.nic.in/index2.htm
  9. ^ http://rkvy.nic.in/#
  10. ^ http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/latest_2006.htm
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