Continuation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

 

1. The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme until 2025-26.
2. These schemes aim to provide financial security to farmers, enhance agricultural sustainability, and support the adoption of modern farming techniques.
    

Key Objectives:
 

1. Financial Assistance for Farmers: Providing compensation to farmers in case of crop losses due to adverse weather conditions.
2. Income Stability: Ensuring farmers' income is stabilized so they can continue farming activities.
3. Promoting Modern Agriculture: Encouraging the adoption of modern farming techniques and innovations.
4. Credit Flow: Improving credit availability to the agricultural sector to ensure food security and crop diversification.
    

Features:
 

1. Launch Date: 2016
2. Ministry: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
3. Implementing Agencies: The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) coordinates the implementation in partnership with state governments.
4. Exemptions: The PMFBY scheme is exempted from the Goods and Service Tax (GST), making it more accessible for farmers.
5. Coverage: The scheme covers food crops (cereals, millets, pulses), oilseeds, and annual commercial/horticultural crops, provided yield data and crop cutting experiments (CCEs) are available.
    

Types of Risks Covered:
 

1. Yield Losses (on a Notified Area Basis): Natural disasters like storms, cyclones, floods, droughts, and pests.
    
2. Prevented Sowing: Farmers can claim up to 25% of the sum insured if adverse weather prevents sowing.
    
3. Post-Harvest Losses: Coverage for up to 14 days after harvesting, protecting crops left in the field against cyclonic/unseasonal rains.
    
4. Localized Calamities: Hailstorms, landslides, and inundation affecting specific farms.
    
5. Add-On Coverage: States can provide additional coverage for crop losses due to wild animal attacks.
   
    

Exclusions:
 

1. Losses due to war, riots, theft, preventable risks, and grazing by animals.
2. Crops bundled or heaped before threshing (for post-harvest losses).
    

Premium and Subsidy:
 

1. Kharif Crops: 2% of the sum insured.
2. Rabi Crops: 1.5% of the sum insured.
3. Commercial/Horticultural Crops: 5% of the sum insured.
4. The difference between the premium and insurance charges is subsidized by the government. For North-Eastern States, the subsidy is shared at a 90:10 ratio between the Centre and State.
    

Eligibility:
 

1. All farmers with insurable interests, including sharecroppers and tenant farmers, are eligible.
2. The scheme was initially mandatory for farmers taking crop loans or Kisan Credit Card loans but has been made optional for all farmers since the Kharif 2020 season.
    

Technological Initiatives:
 

To enhance the effectiveness of the scheme, several technological initiatives have been introduced:
 

1. Fund for Innovation and Technology (FIAT): A corpus of ₹824.77 Crore has been set up to support the adoption of innovative technologies in crop insurance.
    
2. YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System using Technology):
   1. Uses remote sensing technology for more accurate crop yield estimates, with 30% of the weightage based on technology-based estimates.
   2. Implemented in 9 major states, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, and others. Madhya Pradesh has fully adopted technology-based yield estimation.
       
3. WINDS (Weather Information and Network Data Systems): Establishes automatic weather stations (AWS) at the block level and automatic rain gauges (ARGs) at the panchayat level, enhancing data collection for better crop risk assessment.

 

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