Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

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 Narendra Singh Tomar who has been serving in office since 31 May 2019 and is assisted by two ministers of state - Kailash Choudhary since 31 May 2019 and Shobha Karandlaje since 7 July 2021. 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".