The government has introduced several crop insurance schemes to give safety cover to farmers. (Photo credit: Pixabay)
A farmer works hard to grow crops and feed his family and also us. Sometimes, the crops are damaged due to various factors. That’s why, crop insurance schemes have been introduced.
New Delhi: India is mostly an agrarian country where farmers toil hard to grow crops and in turn, provide us with food. What would we have done without farmers and their agricultural produce? We would have starved to death. Hence, it is important to protect the interest of farmers, whose crops can be destroyed even within a day due to bad weather. That is why, crop insurance schemes are important as it provides farmers with insurance coverage for their harvest. The government has introduced several crop insurance schemes to give safety cover to farmers in the event of crop damage. It lessens the financial losses of farmers when their crops are damaged due to extreme weather, natural disasters or revenue loss due to price fluctuations in the agricultural market.
Crop insurance schemes of the central government
There are four insurance schemes introduced by the central government to support farmers. They are:
- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
- Weather-based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS)
- Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme (CPIS)
- Unified Package insurance scheme (UPIS)
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
This provides protection for food crops, oilseeds, and annual horticultural commercial crops that are notified by the state government. The uniform maximum premium for all farmers is two per cent of the sum insured during the Kharif season, 1.5 per cent of the sum insured during the Rabi season and 5 per cent of the sum insured for annual commercial/horticultural crops. In case the farmers cannot sow the seeds because of adverse weather conditions, they will be paid 25 per cent of the sum insured.
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When the volume of crop yielded is less than the crop yield that was assured, the farmers will be paid the amount equal to the shortfall in yield. The scheme covers the losses of farmers on several fronts and uses remote sensing technology and drones to supplement crop-cutting experiments so that the claims are settled faster.
Weather-based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS)
The maximum premium for all farmers is much like PMFBY and here also, the Centre and the state share the difference between the actual premium and the rate of insurance equally. When the weather indices deviate from the Guaranteed Weather Index of notified crops, farmers get claim payment equal to the shortfall in production.
Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme (CPIS)
This protects the coconut and palm growers. The premium rate per palm ranges from Rs 9 to Rs 14 and farmers get 50-75 per cent subsidy of premium. If the palm is damaged, the farmers get a claim payment equal to the input cost loss.
Unified Package Insurance Scheme (UPIS)
As is evident from the name, the Unified Package Insurance Scheme (UPIS) was started to give farmers financial protection and comprehensive risk coverage. Farmers can get the required insurance products they need through one simple proposal and a single window. The claims are processed on the basis of individual claim reports.
