To boost the safety of farmers’ crops and ensure maximum benefit of crop insurance reaches to farmers, the Government of India has allocated Rs 16000 crores for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana(PMFBY)for the fiscal year 2021-22.
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 growth of agriculture sector in the country.
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.
The Government of India approved this flagship crop insurance scheme on 13th January 2016.
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 year-on-year basis.
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% are small and marginal farmers. Thus, financial assistance is provided to most vulnerable farmers.
