Finally, state govt agrees to join Centre’s crop insurance scheme from next fiscal

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, November 13

After years of rejecting the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Punjab's Aam Aadmi Party government is set to join the Centre's crop insurance scheme from the next fiscal.

What has promoted the state government's change of heart on the issue is two years of successive crop loss because of inclement weather and pest attack on "white gold" cotton, forcing the ruling dispensation to pay Rs 1,500 crore as compensation to paddy and cotton farmers.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

• Under PMFBY, farmers pay 1.5% of the sum insured as premium for rabi crops and 2% as premium for kharif crops. The balance premium is shared between the Centre and the state government
• Presently, in case of any crop loss, farmers get a compensation between Rs 2,000 to Rs 12,000 per acre, based on the extent of crop loss. The money is used from the Disaster Relief Fund

The crop loss in Punjab had never crossed 5 per cent, till three years ago. But for the past two to three years, the crop loss in paddy (both basmati and non-basmati) and cotton has crossed 15 per cent. "The compensation paid to cotton growers (whose crop was damaged because of bollworm or whitefly attack) alone in the past two years is Rs 700 crore," claim officials in the state Agriculture Department.

Confirming that the state government will finally go in for the PMFBY, state's Director, Agriculture, Gurwinder Singh said interventional studies were being done and the government was studying the implementation and impact of the crop insurance scheme in both Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

It may be mentioned that since the scheme was launched by the Centre, Punjab had been objecting to it primarily because the scheme clubbed the irrigated and non-irrigated areas for deciding on compensation. Further, relief was to be provided only in case of 40 per cent crop damage. It also used 10-year data for assessing normal crop yield to calculate premium. The state had even drawn up its own crop insurance scheme during the previous Congress government's tenure, but it never took off.

Officials say, "The state government will now be collating all data online, use digitised land records and satellite imagery to assess crop loss."

Interestingly, many states like Telangana, Gujarat and Bihar, which had opted out of the PMFBY, too, are reportedly keen on joining the scheme from the next fiscal, after the Centre has agreed to launch a refurbished scheme.

from The Tribune https://ift.tt/rYzGc9u