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HomeNEWSNationalCrop Insurance Scheme : fusion of hope, imagination and technology

Crop Insurance Scheme : fusion of hope, imagination and technology

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By A Kumar

Agriculture is the backbone of India in terms of people engaged in this activity and dependent on it.  There is already Crop Insurance Scheme but it is not able to meet the expectation of the farmers. Therefore, only those farmers are covered who have availed loan from any institution.  The full benefit of existing Crop insurance cover is not serve the intended purpose and the suicide of farmers among some states particularly adopting Cash Crop are at very alarming level. The awareness among farmers about old scheme is also very low. As per available information center is paying insurance premium to the tune of Rs.3000 crore annually. Presently, such insurance is named as   National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified NAIS (MNIAS)  and climate -based crop insurance scheme which is in vogue since 1985.

Existing Crop Insurance scheme at a glance as under:

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As per  existing crop insurance schemes NAIS (National Agricultural Insurance Scheme) and MNAIS, farmers are paying a premium of up to 3.5 per cent and 8 per cent respectively, and the balance amount  is being borne by the government.

Insurance firms are charging  premium in the range between 1 and 20 per cent for crops.

As per r MNAIS, premiums are capped at 13 per cent in most vulnerable areas for kharif crops, while 11 per cent for rabi crops.

As per available record with the Government, nearly  20 per cent (40.27 million hectares) of the total farm land is insured under the existing schemes which is quite low an inadequate.

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In Rajasthan, the maximum area insured at 12.26 million hectare followed by followed by Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

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The Centre is implementing various farm insurance schemes since 1985, to insulate farmers against agri—risks.

In the backdrop of above dismal condition the Present Government of India has given nod on 13.01.2016 for  New Crop Insurance Scheme named the scheme as the Pradhan Mnatri Fasal Bima Yojna  which has to be implemented for Kharif Crops 2016 from next month.

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It has been formulated in such a way that new insurance scheme can address all the previous shortcoming  and  also formulated some new initiative to mitigate the loss of Crops of farmers.

The salient points are as under :

  1. The new crop schemes have been prepared after extensive consultations with various stakeholders including Ministries/Department, NITI Aayog, State Governments, Insurance regulatory and Development Authority, insurance companies etc. and its core of essence is farmer friendly.
  1. Farmer will pay premium at 2.% for Kharif Crops, 1.5 % for Rabi Crops and 5% for Horticulture to be paid annually of the sum assured.
  1. The total amount of premium has been estimated to the tune of Rs.8000 crore to be shared by center and state in the ratio of 50:50.
  1. It has been designed in such a way to be cost effective insurance premium, and by use of technology easy implementation and also proposed insurance claim to be settled hassle free within a time frame.   The scheme will use tech products such as smart phones  and drones to capture and upload data of crop cutting in order to reduce delays in claim payments to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments. It will also help to estimate actual loss promptly.
  1. ¼ of the compensation to be  paid directly into the farmer’s bank account.
  1. It will provide coverage against localised risks of hailstorms, landslides and inundation as well as post-harvest losses  up to 14 days of harvesting of cyclonic and unseasonal rains.
  1. There is no upper limit of government subsidy. Capping of actuarial premium rates has been removed that existed in the Modified NAIS scheme effective since 2010.
  1. Farmers not only pay lower premiums but also avail  full sum insured unlike the capping previously.
  1. Effective steps to be taken to increase  coverage of area under crop insurance schemes from 23% at present to 50% of gross cropped area within next three years.
  1. If sum insured of Rs. 30 thousand, the farmers would now pay only Rs. 600 as premium and government would pay Rs. 6000 as premium. In case of complete damage, the premiums for farmers have been slashed to Rs. 600 from existing Rs. 900. Claim amount has been increased from existing Rs. 15 thousand to Rs. 30 thousand. If an insured farmer, due to any natural calamity, isn’t able to sow, still the farmer would be liable to get the claimed amount.13states4
  1. Two new  mobile phone applications launched simulataneous to help  farmers get information related to crop insurance and prices of agri- commodities in different mandis across the country.These two applicatined named  AgriMarket Mobile App and Crop Insurance Mobile App designed and  developed by the in-house IT division of the Agriculture Ministry.It is also downloaded from Google Store or mKisan portal available in Hindi and English .  Farmers will able to  get information related to crop insurance cover available, and also calculate the premium for notified crops based on area, coverage amount and loan amount,  of normal sum insured, extended sum insured and subsidy information of any notified crop in any notified area. Additionally, more importantly it is now possible to  get information related to prices of crops in markets within 50 km of their own device location using the AgriMarket Mobile App as the app automatically captures the location of the farmers using mobile GPS and fetches the market prices of crops in markets which fall within the range of 50 km.

It can also be seen that how the new scheme stands different from previous one :

Following the motto, One Nation – One Scheme theme, incorporating  the best features of all previous schemes and at the same time, all previous shortcomings/weaknesses/deficiencies  have been addressed to the benefit of farmers :

.

Sr. No Feature NAIS[1999] MNAIS[2010] PM
Crop Insurance Scheme
1. Premium rate Low High Lower than
even NAIS
(Govt to
contribute 5 times that of farmer)
2. One Season – One Premium Yes No Yes
3. Insurance Amount cover Full Capped Full
4. On Account Payment No Yes Yes
5. Localised Risk coverage No Hail stormLand slide Hail stormLand slideInundation
6. Post Harvest Losses coverage No Coastal areas
– for cyclonic rain
All India –
for cyclonic + unseasonal rain
7. Prevented Sowing coverage No Yes Yes
8. Use of Technology
(for quicker settlement of claims)
No Intended Mandatory
9. Awareness No No Yes (target to
double coverage to 

So the new scheme if implemented in letter and spirit, which has been made  keeping in view higher coverage and use of latest technology to get compensation, proved a historical one and will surely address the farmers interest well.Farmers-and-tractor-primary-700x350

As our respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi style, this has been given as new year gift to impetuous and boost the agriculture growth and save farmers from loss of crops due to so many factors. It will also help to sutaianble growth of agriculture sector and improve the economical condition of small and marginal farmer.

Undoubtedly, the above said scheme is well conceived keeping farmer interest supreme. If India has to become number one economical super power, it is necessary to improve conditions of farmer both quantitavely and qualitatively. If the farmer gets enough income, the migration of farmers towards metropolitan city will certainly decrease. This scheme is very well intended and have far reaching positive consequences if it is implemented with vigor and enthusiasm.

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Taazakhabar News Bureau
Taazakhabar News Bureau
Taazakhabar News Bureau is a team of seasoned journalists led by Neeraj Mahajan. Trusted by millions readers worldwide.

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