Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: A Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme
Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy, providing livelihood to millions of farmers in the country. However, farming is a risky business, especially in a country like India that experiences frequent droughts, floods, and other natural calamities. Crop insurance is crucial for farmers to protect themselves from such risks and uncertainties.
To address this concern, the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) scheme on 13th January 2016. The scheme aims to provide comprehensive crop insurance coverage to farmers and protect them from financial losses due to crop damages.
Features of PMFBY Scheme:
PMFBY scheme is a comprehensive crop insurance scheme that covers all the crops from sowing to harvesting against losses caused by natural calamities, pests, and diseases.
The scheme offers uniform premium rates of 2% for kharif crops, 1.5% for rabi crops, and 5% for commercial and horticultural crops. The farmers’ premium amount is subsidized by the government, and the remaining premium paid by the farmers is based on the sum-insured per hectare.
The insured farmers get timely compensation for the losses they suffer due to crop damages. The claim settlement under the PMFBY scheme is based on the crop cutting experiments (CCEs), which determine the crop yields and losses.
The PMFBY scheme is optional for farmers, but they are encouraged to take insurance coverage as it helps them to manage the risks for their crops’ production effectively.
Benefits of PMFBY Scheme:
The PMFBY scheme aims to protect the farmers’ income from crop damages by providing them comprehensive insurance coverage against natural calamities, pests, and diseases.
The scheme helps to insure and protect all the farmers in the country, whether they are rich or poor, against crop losses.
It encourages the farmers to go for modern agricultural practices and technologies to increase productivity and quality of crops.
The scheme helps to reduce the farmers’ distress due to crop failures and improves their financial stability.
It helps the government to provide timely compensation to the farmers for their losses and reduce the burden due to agricultural subsidies.
Conclusion:
Overall, the PMFBY scheme is an important initiative by the Indian government to provide comprehensive crop insurance coverage to farmers and mitigate the risks associated with farming. The scheme aims to protect farmers’ income and improve their financial stability. However, the scheme’s implementation requires greater coordination among the stakeholders to ensure that the benefits reach the farmers. The government needs to create more awareness among the farmers about the scheme and encourage them to take insurance coverage to manage the risks effectively.