WASHINGTON — An agreement to overhaul the nation’s farmworker program as part of an immigration plan provides the best chance in at least a decade to solve a farm labor shortage and protect the country’s food, agriculture leaders said Monday.

“We are in a unique moment in our nation’s history,” said Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers of America.

Rodriguez and representatives from other farm and labor groups testified Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is holding hearings on an immigration overhaul bill that would increase border security and offer a pathway to citizenship to millions of people who are in the country illegally.

Part of the immigration bill is a potentially landmark agreement between the farmworkers union and the agriculture industry, which relies heavily on labor from workers who are in the country illegally. Agriculture groups say that at least half and possibly as many as three-quarters of the 2 million people who work on U.S. farms are in the country illegally.

The agreement calls for the creation of a blue card program that would offer a path to citizenship for current farmworkers as well as two visa programs to guarantee that farmers have an adequate workforce in the future.

The agreement reflects the reality that U.S. farmers must rely heavily on foreign-born workers and that without them, much of the nation’s food supply would have to be produced elsewhere, said Charles Conner, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

“The question is not whether foreign-born workers will be the ones harvesting many of our crops,” Conner said. “The question is whether they will be picking those crops here in the U.S. or in other countries.”

Democrats and several Republicans on the Judiciary Committee described the agriculture accord as a good starting point but said border security measures must be put in place to stop the flow of illegal immigration into the U.S.

“If we don’t secure our borders upfront, there will be no political will” to pass comprehensive reform, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the panel’s top Republican.

Under the agriculture agreement, negotiated under the direction of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., current farmworkers who are in the country illegally would be eligible to obtain legal status through a blue card program.

Workers who can document that they have worked in agriculture in the U.S. in the past two years would be eligible for a blue card. Applicants must have no criminal record, have paid taxes, pay a $100 fee and commit to work in agriculture for at least five more years. At that point, the workers could become eligible for green cards, which allow permanent residency and eventual citizenship.

Two guest worker programs also would be created under the agreement. One would provide visas that would let workers move from employer to employer without a contractual commitment. The other would be a contract-based visa in which workers would commit to work for an employer for a fixed period.

The contract-visa program would replace the current H2A visa program, which farm groups say is too restrictive and expensive. They also say it is seasonal-based and fails to take into account the year-round needs of some farmers, such as dairy and livestock producers.

Besides creating a legal avenue for farmworkers to enter the country, Rodriguez said, the legislation also has protections against corrupt recruitment. Among them are a registry of foreign recruiters and a requirement that recruiters post a bond.

Those who negotiated the agriculture agreement tried to come up with a pact that would “honor the farmworkers in this country and the work they do” as well as ensure that the industry can maintain its viability, Rodriguez said.

Conner said: “The current system is broken. We’ve got to change it.”