Farmers got Rs 6,400 crore in last two months under Fasal Bima Yojana, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman

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A total of Rs 6,400 crore of claims have been paid to farmers in the last two months under the Fasal Bima Yojana (crop insurance), said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

She added that these claims had been paid in the last two months so that the farmers got the insurance money.

A lockdown has been in effect in India since March 25 to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic across the country.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is a crop insurance scheme to protect farmers against losses in crop production due to natural calamities and pest attacks.

Launched in 2016, PMFBY compensates farmers if any of the notified crops fail due to natural calamities, pests and diseases. The scheme seeks not just to insulate farmers from income shocks, but also encourage them to adopt modern agricultural practices.

Data from the PMFBY website showed that a total premium of Rs 17,090.87 crore was collected under this scheme for Kharif 2019 season. A total of 18.4 million farmers have been covered under the scheme in Kharif 2019. The sum insured under PMFBY (Kharif 2019) is Rs 1.14 lakh crore.

In FY19, gross incurred claims under PMFBY was Rs 27,550 crore while the premium collected was Rs 20,293 crore.

Unlike previous schemes, PMFBY is open for both farmers who have taken loans (loanee) as well as those who have not (non-loanee). The scheme covers food crops (cereals, millets and pulses), oilseeds as well as horticultural crops.

Here, farmers pay 2 percent of sum insured as the premium for Kharif crops while it is 1.5 percent of the sum insured for Rabi crops.