Know your Ministry No.1 - Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare

Agriculture is the most important sector of Indian Economy. Indian agriculture sector accounts for 18 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP) and provides employment to 50% of our workforce.

STRUCTURE

Ministry is headed by Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister and is assisted by three Ministers of State. The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (DAHD&F) and Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) are the three major constituents. It has 27 Divisions, viz Administration, Agriculture Census, Agricultural Marketing, Budget, Finance and Accounts, Cooperation, Credit, Crops, Drought Management, Economic Administration, Extension, General Coordination, Official Language, Horticulture, Digital Agriculture Division, Integrated Nutrient Management, International Cooperation, Mechanization and Technology, Natural Resources Management, Oilseeds, Plan Coordination, Plant Protection, Policy, Rainfed Farming System, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Seeds, Agriculture Trade Policy, Promotion and Logistics Development Division, Vigilance and Farmers Welfare Divisions.

ACTS & RULES

The Following critical segments are NOT governed by any statute:

1. Agriculture Census
2. Budget
3. Credit
4. Crops and National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
5. Farmer’s Welfare
6. Digital Agriculture
7. International Co-operation
8. Plan Coordination
9. Rainfed Farming System
10. Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
11. Agricultural Trade
12. Agricultural Vigilance.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)

State-wise data and reports related to Agricultural sector are NOT published in the public domain:

1. Monthly, Quarterly, Half-Yearly and Annual Reports on Agriculture sector.
2. Monthly Horticulture Reports on selected commodities like Onion, Potato and Tomato is published upto March 2020.
3. Reports on Cash Crops.
4. Procurement prices of agricultural produces and Analytics related to Demand and Supply.
5. Overall Agricultural Plan Outlay and Budgetary allocation.
6. State-wise Drought Data and Major Impacts on Agriculture sector on account of Natural Calamities and Disasters.
7. Statistics related to reported Farmers’ suicides across the country.
8. Data related to credit exposure to Agriculture sector.
9. Import and Export Data related to Agricultural products.
10. Data Allied Agricultural activities like Dairy, Poultry, Sericulture, etc.
11. Information related to Indirect Agricultural activities.
12. Insurance on Agriculture – Claim and Settlement Data.
13. Year-wise data related Subsidies and Subventions extended to agriculture sector.
14. Report on Doubling Farmers’ Income – Latest released as on September 2018.

MISSING LINKS:

The undermentioned areas needs to be thrusted more to boost our agriculture sector:

1. Agricultural activities and Plan related to Organic farming in Urban & Metropolitan Centres.
2. Promotion of Agriculture and Horticulture activities by individuals and NGOs under community farming concept to reach self-sufficiency.
3. Comprehensive legal framework for Agriculture Sector.

Way forward Towards Improved & Efficient Governance of Agriculture Sector:

Agriculture is the backbone of our economy. Self-sufficiency in this sector could be achieved only by ensuring that it contributes a major chunk to the country’s GDP. Legislation for reforms in agriculture sector has been incidentally passed by Lok Sabha. The bills seek to open up the farm sector to more competition, modernise supply chains by enabling bigger agribusinesses to engage with farmers more directly and create seamless access to markets, which are currently fragmented.