Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY) is launched in January 2016, by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It is an Agriculture/Crop Insurance Scheme. It was launched by scraping down other insurance schemes i.e., Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS), the Weather-based Crop Insurance scheme, and the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS). Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is the flagship scheme of the government for agricultural insurance in India in line with the One Nation-One Scheme theme.
Crop insurance serves as a crucial tool for mitigating risks and safeguarding farmers from the impact of natural disasters. PMFBY is a prominent initiative introduced by the Government of India in 2016, and it is currently in its sixth year of implementation. The scheme’s primary objective is to extend financial assistance to farmers who experience crop loss or damage due to various natural calamities, including hailstorms, droughts, floods, cyclones, excessive or untimely rainfall, as well as the outbreak of diseases and pests.
The scheme is the third largest crop insurance scheme in the world in terms of premium. It has been successfully implemented in 27 States and Union Territories across India. The primary goal of the scheme is to ensure maximum coverage of farmers under crop insurance, offering comprehensive protection against risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest losses. Notably, the scheme provides farmers with the opportunity to participate at significantly low premium rates, making it accessible and beneficial for their involvement.
The primary objective of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is to offer financial assistance to farmers who experience crop loss or damage due to unexpected events. This scheme aims to promote sustainable agricultural production by providing support to those affected by unforeseen circumstances in the farming sector. PMFBY provides financial support to farmers and help them to overcome calamities affecting their production.
Financial support is to provided to farmers who faces loss or damage to their crops due to unexpected/natural calamities.
Stabilizes income of farmers to encourage them in the field of farming.
Ensure flow of credit to the agricultural sector.
Encourages farmers to meet up with the advanced techniques of farming.
Beneficiaries of the Scheme:
firstly, Farmers are divided into two categories, namely Loanee Farmers and Non-loanee Farmers.
Loanee Farmers: Any farmer that has sanctioned Seasonal Agricultural Operational loans (SAO) from Financial institutions comes under this category. It is mandatory for these farmers to enroll for the Scheme.
Non-Loanee Farmers: Farmers who have opted for Non-standard Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme linked crop loans or farmers, who have not taken any loan comes under this category. It is optional for these farmers to choose PMFBY scheme.
Farmers opting for PMFBY scheme must meet the following criteria:
The farmer must be a cultivator or a sharecropper on the insured land.
Farmer must have a valid land ownership documents or valid land tenancy documents.
Farmer must apply for the Scheme in the given time period i.e., within 2 weeks of sowing period.
They must not have received any compensation for the same crop loss from any other source.They must have a valid Kisan Credit Card (KCC) or obtain one within six months of enrollment.
They must have valid and active bank account with all the bank details.
Coverage under Scheme:
PMFBY provides insurance coverage to the following crops: Food crops such as Cereals, Millets and grains, Annual Crops such as sugarcane, cotton and Horticultural Crops.
Specific yeilds covered various according toh th states because different states have different yeilds capacity.
Farmers are insured against crop loss/damage due to several calamities such as pest or disease spread, flood, hail, cyclone, hurricane, etc.
The sum insured is calculated as the average yield of the crop multiplied by the area under cultivation and the crop’s minimum support price (MSP).
The premiums for insurance coverage under PMFBY are calculated on a sliding scale, based on the type of crop and the region in which it is grown. 2% for Kharif crops, 1.5% for Rabi Crops, 5% for Kharif and Rabi Crops.
The government subsidizes a portion of the premiums for small and marginal farmers, with the balance being paid by the farmers themselves. The government also pays the entire premium for farmers in North-Eastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh.
Premium Rates:
Insurance Companies Included:
Department of Agricultural Cooperation and Farmers Welfare has emoanelled some companies to participate in the government sponsored agriculture /crop insurance schemes based on their financial strength, infrastructure, manpower and expertise etc. The empanelled private insurance companies at present are:
Farmers can apply for PMFBY through banks, brokers, CSC e-Government Services India Limited, or directly through the website. Given below is the procedure for you to follow:
If you do not have an account, click on the guest farmer. Fill in all the details and create your account.
After your account has been successfully created. Click on the insurance scheme and fill the form that appears before you and submit.
Procedure to file a Claim:
When a farmer faces any loss post-harvesting or localized calamity, should claim insurance within 72 hours of the event. Farmers can call their respective banks or District Agricultural Office (DAO) and provide them with survey number-wise insured crop and acreage affected and the Premium payment verification details as given to the Bank / Intermediary / CSC centers. Local Newspaper cutting and any other available evidence to substantiate the occurrence of the loss event and severity of the loss, if any should also be provided as applicable.
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