Policy Update
Elenora Tu’u
Background:
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA & FW) is one of two constituent departments under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the other being the Department of Agriculture, Research and Education (DARE).
DA&FW is primarily responsible for policy formulation, regulation and implementation of programs relating to agriculture and farmer welfare in India. Its functions span foodgrain production, farmer income support, crop insurance, market linkages, and agricultural sustainability.
Key institutional arms include the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP), which recommends Minimum Support Prices (MSPs); the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES); with multiple attached support subordinate offices. The Department has been a Centre of India’s Green Revolution, food security policies, and recent farmer-centric digital reforms.
Functioning:
Department Agriculture and Farmers Welfare functions through a combination of Central Sector (SC) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) implemented in partnership with state governments. Its functioning may be divided into six broad areas
- Price Policy and Procurement: Based on CACP recommendations, MSPs are declared for 22 crops annually, ensuring farmers’ price security. Procurement operations are managed via the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies.
- Risk Management: The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) offers crop insurance against losses from natural calamities and weather-related events.
- Direct Income Support: The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Saman Nidhi(PM-KISAN)provides a direct transfer of Rs 6000 annually to farmers, reaching nearly 10 crore households
- Production and Productivity Schemes: These include National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Soil Health Card (SHC)program and National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
- Digital Agriculture Initiatives: The Digital Agriculture Mission and India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA/AgriStack) seek to create interoperable farmer-centric digital platforms for better targeting of schemes, advisory services, and private sector innovation.
- Market and Value Chain development: The Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) digitally integrates wholesale mandis across states, enabling transparent price discovery and market competition.
Performance:
Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare performance can be assessed through indicators of production, market reforms, farmer welfare, and risk management.
- Foodgrain Production: India has achieved record production levels. The ministry reported foodgrain output at 332 million tonnes in 2023-2024, reflecting resilience despite climate shocks.
- PM KISAN: As of August 2025, the scheme has transferred Rs 3.7 lakh crore across 20 instalments to over 9.7 crore farmers, making it one of the world’s largest direct benefit transfer (DBT) programs.
- Crop Insurance(PMFBY): Since 2016, cumulative insurance payouts of Rs 2.12 lakh crore have been made, with Rs 3900 crore credited to 35 lakh farmers in August 2025 alone.
- Market Access (e-NAM): As of June 2025,1,522 mandis were integrated, with 1.79 crore registered farmers and a cumulative trade value of Rs 4.4 lakh crore.
- Soil Health Card Program: The SHC scheme has covered most cultivable land, with government reports noting an 8 to 10% input cost savings and yield improvements when recommendations are followed.
Note: these outcomes highlight the progress in income support, digital integration and production stability on farmers’ welfare.
Impact:
Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare initiatives have had multi-dimensional impacts
- Improved Market Efficiency: e-NAM has improved transparency, reducing middleman-driven price asymmetries and expanding farmers’ access to buyers across state boundaries.
- Income Security: PM-KISAN ensures liquidity for smallholders, complementing PMFBY’s insurance coverage. Together, they reduce financial stress during crop failure and enable consumption smoothing.
- Sustainability: The SHC scheme has scaled fertilizer use, ensuring soil health, reducing operational costs.
- Food Security: Output of foodgrain progress underpins India’s PDS system, enhancing affordability and accessibility for all citizens.
- Digital Transformation: Initiatives such as AgriStack lay foundations for farmer-centric ecosystem, improving the delivery of subsidies, making sure extension services a met
Emerging Issues:
Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – Amidst progress, challenges persist
- Digital Divide: Despite achievements in connectivity and promising initiatives, the lack of digital literacy remains unsolved, making data privacy vulnerable to misuse.
- Climate Change: The country’s erratic temperatures, droughts and floods during the monsoon season impact crop yields and pest dynamics according to reports
- Smallholder Constraints: Reports indicate that almost 85% of farmers are small and marginal farmers, undermining bargaining capacity.
- Post-Harvest Losses: Storage constraints and processing facilities increase the chances of income erosion and food loss.
- Delayed Market Reforms: Changes in how farmers can sell their crops, such as breaking away from restrictive APMC markets and allowing them to enter contract farming agreements, remain a politically delicate issue.
Way Forward:
To ensure efficiency, production, and regulatory compliance, the following suggested recommendations under Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare include
- Reform and Scale PMFBY: incorporate the use of technology-based yielding mechanisms for yield estimations – this will enhance claim settlement, reducing cost for smallholders.
- Scaling up Climate Resilience: promote drought-tolerant seeds under the PMKSY initiative, as climate advisories have been channelled through Krishi Vigyan Kendras(KVKs).
- Improve Market Reforms: Strengthening e-NAM fosters interstate trade and the national agricultural market.
- Farmer Centric Digital Ecosystem: Enhance privacy-protection measures, integrate linkage with grievance redressal systems.
- Value Chain Integration: Strengthen infrastructures, improve logistics and processing, which reduces post-harvest losses – rural small-scale farmers are the largest share of the agricultural system, both in numbers and contribution to food supply.
- Sustainability Alignment: promote water-saving crops, which include crops like millets, pulses and oilseeds to ensure consistent and balanced nutrients management through SHC2.0.
References:
1. Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. (2025). Annual Report 2024–25. Government of India. https://agriwelfare.gov.in
2. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. (n.d.). Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare: Overview. Government of India. https://agriwelfare.gov.in
3. Government of India. (2025). Economic Survey 2024–25: Agriculture & Food Management. Ministry of Finance. https://www.indiabudget.gov.in
4. Press Information Bureau. (2025, August 11). Crop insurance payouts credited under PMFBY; cumulative payouts since 2016. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. https://pib.gov.in
5. DD News. (2025, August 2). PM releases 20th PM-KISAN instalment: ₹20,500 crore to 9.7 crore farmers. https://ddnews.gov.in
6. Press Information Bureau. (2025, July 25). Registration of FPOs, farmers and traders on e-NAM platform. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. https://pib.gov.in
7. Press Information Bureau. (2025, March). Second Advance Estimates of production of foodgrains, oilseeds and commercial crops (2024–25). Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. https://pib.gov.in
8. Press Information Bureau. (2025, June 13). National Conference on Agri Stack: Turning Data into Delivery. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. https://pib.gov.in
About the contributor:
Elenora Tu’u is an undergraduate student specializing in Politics and Public Policy at P P Savani University, Gujarat. This article is published as part of her course work with the IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute.
Acknowledgement:
The author sincerely thanks Ms. Aasthaba Jadeja and the IMPRI team for their valuable support.
Disclaimer:
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organization.
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