Cabinet approves modifications in Crop Insurance Scheme under Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Cabinet approves modifications in Crop Insurance Scheme under Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

Posted 02 Jan 2025

2 min read

Decision included the continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)

Key Modifications approved

  • Continuation of the Scheme: Till 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs.69,515.71 Crore 
  • Large Scale Technology Infusion: Through the Fund for Innovation and Technology (FIAT) with a corpus of Rs.824.77 Crore. 
    • To be utilised for funding technological initiatives under the scheme namely, YES-TECH, WINDS, etc. 

About PMFBY & RWBCIS

  • Aim:  Provide an affordable crop insurance product for comprehensive risk cover against all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest stage.
    • RWBCIS covers the insured farmers against loss from adverse weather conditions like rainfall, temperature, wind, humidity etc.
    • PMFBY and RWBCIS primarily differ in their methodology for calculation of admissible claims by farmers.
  • Coverage: All farmers including sharecroppers and tenant farmers growing notified crops in the notified areas.
  • Crops Covered: Food crops (Cereals, Millets and Pulses); Oilseeds; Annual Commercial / Annual Horticultural crops, etc.
  • Risks Covered: Basic cover (risk of yield loss); add-on covers based on specific needs; Post harvest losses (maximum to 2 weeks after harvesting); localised calamities; etc.
  • Premium Paid by farmers: Kharif crops (2%); Rabi Crops (1.5%); Commercial Horticulture crops (5%). 
  • Exclusions: Losses arising out of war and nuclear risks, and other preventable risks.

Key Efforts towards Technology Adoption under the Scheme

  • National Crop Insurance Portal for better administration and coordination.
  • Yield Estimation System based on Technology (YES-TECH) for direct estimation of yield at Gram Panchayat (GP) level
  • Weather Information Network Data System (WINDS) for generation of long-term hyper-local weather data for Crop insurance.
    • Implementation of WINDS to assist state governments will begin in 2024-25.
  • Tags :
  • PMFBY
  • RWBCIS
  • Crop Insurance
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