Ministry of Agriculture
Hon. Union Minister assisted by Minister of State for Agriculture holds overall charge of the Ministry of Agriculture.Ministry of Agriculture comprises of three Departments :

  • Department of Agriculture and Cooperation
  • Department of Agricultural Research & Education/ICAR
  • Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying 

Ministry of Agriculture



Department of Agriculture and Cooperation
Secretary (A&C) is the Administrative Head of the Department and Principal Adviser to the Minister on all matters of policy and administration within the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation. He is assisted by Special Secretaries, Additional Secretaries, Agriculture Commissioner, Joint Secretaries, Economic & Statistical Adviser, Horticulture Commissioner and Plant Protection Adviser.A Technology Mission on oilseeds and Pulses and the Commission for Agricultural Cost &Prices (CACP) also function under the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation.

The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation is responsible for the formulation and implementation of National policies and programmes aimed at achieving rapid agricultural growth through optimum utilization of the country's land, water. Soil and plant resources.

The Department undertakes all possible measures to ensure timely and adequate supply of inputs and services such as fertilizers, seeds pesticides, agricultural implements and also provides agricultural credit, crops insurance and ensures remunerative returns to the farmer for his agricultural produce

The Department is organised into 22 Divisions and Technology Mission on oilseeds & Pulses. In addition, it has 4 Attached offices and 22 Subordinate offices spread all over the country for coordination with State level agencies and also for implementing Central Sector Schemes in their respective fields. There are two Public Sector Undertakings, Six Autonomous Bodies and eleven National level Cooperative Organisations with the Department

Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying 
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (AH&D) - now renamed as Department of Animal Husbandry Dairying & Fisheries (DADF) is one of the Departments in the Ministry of Agriculture and came into existence w.e.f. 1st February, 1991, by converting two divisions of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation namely Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development into a separate Department. The Fisheries Division of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation and a part of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries were later transferred to this Department w.e.f. 10th October, 1997.

The Department is responsible for matters relating to livestock production, preservation, protection from disease and improvement of stocks and dairy development, and also for matters relating to the Delhi Milk Scheme and the National Dairy Development Board. It also looks after all matters pertaining to fishing and fisheries, inland and marine.

The Department advises State Governments/Union Territories in the formulation of policies and programmes in the field of Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries. The main thrust areas are:

  • Development of requisite infrastructure in States/UTs for improving productivity
  • Preservation and protection of livestock through provision of health care
  • Strengthening of Central livestock farms (Cattle, Sheep and Poultry) for development of superior germ plasm for distribution to states and
  • Expansion of Aquaculture in fresh & brackish water, and welfare of fisher-folk etc. 

Department of Food Processing Industries
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries, set up in July 1988, is the main central agency of the Government responsible for developing a strong and vibrant food processing sector; with a view to create increased job opportunities in rural areas, enable the farmers to reap benefit from modern technology, create surplus for exports and stimulating demand for processed food

Subjects handled by the Ministry
The subjects looked after by the Ministry are :

  • Fruits and vegetable processing industry
  • Food grain milling industry
  • Dairy products
  • Processing of poultry and eggs, meat and meat products
  • Fish processing
  • Bread, oilseeds, meals (edible), breakfast foods, biscuits, confectionery (including cocoa processing and chocolate), malt extract, protein isolate,high protein food, weaning food and extrude,other ready to eat food products
  • Beer, including non-alcoholic beer
  • Alcoholic drinks from non-molasses base
  • Aerated waters / soft drinks and other processed foods
  • Specialized packaging for food processing industries
  • Technical assistance and advice to food processing industry

Directorate of Marketing and Inspection
The Directorate of marketing and inspection implements the agricultural marketing programmes of the Union Government under the supervision and control of Union Ministry of Agriculture. It aims at bringing integrated development of marketing of agricultural and allied produce in the country. It is headed by Agricultural Marketing Adviser to the Government of India(AMA). It maintains a close liaison between Central and State Governments through its Branch Head office at Nagpur, 11 Regional Offices and 37 sub-offices spread all over the country. It has a network of 22 Regional Agmark Laboratories with Central Agmark Laboratory at Nagpur as apex laboratory.www.agmarknet.nic.in

Department of Agriculture & Cooperation
Ministry of Agriculture

  • Like agriculture, the subject of agricultural marketing is in the concurrent list. Both center and states can undertake legislation in respect of concurrent subjects. Coordination of policies is affected through mutual consultations. As the economic development of a country proceeds, the gap between farm and consumer widens and the tasks of marketing become more complex.
  • The seasonal nature of farm products imposes strains on a marketing system. The situation is made worse by small and marginal sizes of average holdings in the country. Inherent characteristics of farm products make special demands on marketing systems and organizations. While some crops retain their quality for a long time, most of them are perishables.

Functions
The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation is responsible for the formulation and implementation of National policies and programmes aimed at achieving rapid agricultural growth through optimum utilization of the country’s land, water, soil and plant resources.

The Department undertakes all possible measures to ensure timely and adequate supply of inputs and services such as fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, agricultural implements and also to provide agricultural credit, crop insurance and ensure remunerative returns to the farmer for his agricultural produce.

The Department is entrusted with the responsibility for collection and maintenance of a wide range of statistical and economic data relating to agriculture, required for development planning, organizing agricultural census, assisting and advising the States in undertaking scarcity relief measures and in management of natural calamities e.g. flood, drought, cyclone, etc.

The Department is responsible for the formulation of overall cooperative policy in the country, matters relating to national cooperative organizations, cooperative training and education. The Department also participates in activities of international organizations, for fostering bilateral cooperation in agricultural and allied sectors and for promotion of export in agricultural commodities.

  • Administrative Improvement
  • Special Cell
  • Training in Administration

Administrative Improvement

Training the farmers

A Grievance Cell has been set up in the Department as well as in the Attached and Subordinate Offices to ensure speedy redressal of grievances received from public directly or through Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances. Secretary (A&C) also hears the public /staff grievances with prior appointment. Shri K.D.Sinha J.S. has been nominated as J.S. (Grievances). Any employee who has a grievance can meet Grievance Officer on all Wednesdays in the forenoon even without prior appointment. The grievances are attended to on priority and dealt with expeditiously.

Official Language
The Department has an Official Language Implementation Committee (OLIC) under the Chairmanship of J.S. (Administration) to monitor the implementation of Official Language Policy of the government and progressive use of Hindi in the working of the Department.

Special Cell

Functions

A Special Cell is functioning in the Department for strict compliance and implementation of orders issued by the Government from time to time regarding reservation in service for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

Training in Administration
Every year officers of the Department and its Attached/Subordinate Offices and Public Sector Undertakings are deputed for training courses/ programmes and also for attending Work-shops/ Seminars in the field of Computers, Personnel Management, Financial Management, Secretariat Procedures and Practices, Investment Planning, Project Formulation and Implementation, Monitoring and evaluation, Project Designing for Agriculture Development, Data Processing etc. Use of Computers in the Department is also being encouraged by imparting training.