The Union government has allocated Rs 16,000 crores for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for the fiscal year 2021-22 to boost the safety of farmers’ crops and to ensure that the maximum benefit of crop insurance reaches farmers.
“This is a budgetary increase of around Rs 305 crore as against the previous fiscal year 2020-21, which reiterates the government’s commitment towards the growth of agriculture sector in the country,” the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said in a press statement.
The scheme extends coverage for the entire cropping cycle from pre-sowing to post-harvest including coverage for losses arising out of prevented sowing and mid-season adversities.
According to the Ministry, five years ago, on January 13, 2016, the Government of India approved this flagship crop insurance scheme. The scheme was conceived as a milestone initiative to provide a comprehensive risk solution at the lowest uniform premium across the country for farmers.
Today, PMFBY is globally the largest crop insurance scheme in terms of farmer participation and 3rd largest in terms of premium. Over 5.5 crore farmer applications are received on a year-on-year basis, the statement read.
Over the past 5 years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has worked extensively towards revamping the Pradhan Mantri Fasa Bima Yojana (PMFBY) scheme by relooking at the structural, logistical, and other challenges. The scheme was made voluntary for farmers post its revamp in 2020.
According to the statement, the scheme has made it easier for the farmer to report crop loss within 72 hours of the occurrence of any event through the Crop Insurance App, Common Service Centres or the nearest agriculture officer. Claim benefit is then provided electronically into the bank accounts of eligible farmers.
Integration of land records with the PMFBY portal, Crop Insurance mobile-app for easy enrollment of farmers and usage of technology such as satellite imagery, remote-sensing technology, drones, artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess crop losses are some of the key features of the scheme.
As of now out of total farmers enrolled under PMFBY, 84 per cent are small and marginal farmers. Thus, financial assistance is provided to the most vulnerable farmers.
The government’s aim is to resolve structural, logistical, and other challenges, and expand the benefit of PMFBY to all farmers for a #AatmaNirbharBharat.