Replying to criticism of crop producers not being aided enough through the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the agriculture ministry on Thursday affirmed that farmers have received payments of Rs 1,25,662 crore since the commencement of the scheme in 2016. It further claimed that farmers paid a total of Rs 25,186 crore in crop insurance premiums under the programme.
According to the ministry, the government is committed to offering complete insurance coverage against crop loss due to unavoidable natural risks under the ambitious scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
An official statement clarified reports that a pitiful amount of insurance claims were being paid to farmers in some districts of Maharashtra, saying that "Farmers have paid the scheme's premium for the past six years in the amount of Rs 25,186 crore, of which Rs 1,25,662 crore has been paid to them in response to their claims as of October 31, 2022. The majority of the premium is covered by the federal and state governments."
The statement further added that PMFBY is currently the third largest crop insurance programme in the world and is expected to overtake it in the coming years as more than 5 crore farmer applications are submitted to the scheme annually.
Farmers have become more accepting of the programme over the past six years, with the percentage of non-loanee, marginalized, and small farmers rising by 282 per cent since the program's inception in 2016, it said.
The programme is being carried out at actuarial or bid premium rates, although farmers, particularly small farmers, are only required to pay a maximum of 2 per cent for Kharif, 1.5 per cent for Rabi food and oilseed crops, and 5 per cent for commercial and horticultural commodities.
The Central and state governments split premiums beyond these caps on 50/50 basis, with the exception of the North Eastern region, where the split changes to 90/10 starting in the 2020 Kharif.
The scheme is based on insurance principles; therefore, the size of the insured area, the severity of the damage, and the amount insured are crucial factors in determining the claim amount.
As per the ministry, technology and digitization have a big part to play in expanding PMFBY's operations and reach through precision agriculture.
Some of the key actions taken under the scheme to increase efficiency and transparency include the recently introduced Weather Information and Network Data Systems (WINDS), Yield Estimation System based on Technology (YES-Tech), and Collection of Real Time Observations and Photographs of Crops (CROPIC).
An integrated helpline system is also presently undergoing beta testing in Chhattisgarh to answer farmer complaints in real time.
