The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana or PMFBY is a scheme launched by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, New Delhi from the Kharif 2016 season onwards. The National Insurance Company started participating in PMFBY from Rabi 2016 onwards and covered 8 states and 2 Union Territories during the past 5 seasons, Rabi 2016-17, Kharif and Rabi 2017 and Kharif and Rabi 2018, covering over 70,27,637 farmers in total.
The scheme is in line with the One Nation-One Scheme theme. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is set to replace the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme and also the Modified NAIS.
Objectives of the scheme
Some of the main objectives behind the formulation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana are as follows:
- To provide a stabilised income for farmers and ensure their continuance in farming
- To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices
- To provide insurance coverage and financial assistance to the farmers in the event of failure to any of the notified crops as a result of natural calamities, diseases and pests
- To ensure the flow of credit to the agriculture sector which will contribute to food security, crop diversification and promoting the growth and competitiveness of the agriculture sector alongside protecting farmers from production risks
Eligibility criteria
All farmers that have been sanctioned Seasonal Agricultural Operations (SAO) loans (Crop loans) from financial institutions, that is, loanee farmers, for the notified crop(s) season, be compulsorily covered. On the other hand, the scheme is optional for non-loanee farmers.
The insurance coverage will strictly be equivalent to the sum insured/hectare, as defined in the government notification.
Enrolment procedure
Both loanee and non-loanee farmers are to be enrolled in the National Crop Insurance Portal belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, New Delhi. The banks who are leading Seasonal Crop Loans to the farmers are responsible for uploading the data in the NCIP.
In the case of non-loanee farmers, intermediaries, CSCs, loner farmers and other agencies are needed to upload the data in the NCIP, along with uploading some relevant and crucial documents
The premium on insurance is needed to be paid by way of NEFT only and DD or cheques are not acceptable. Similar to offline applications for enrolment are not accepted as every application needs to be filled in and submitted online.
The farmers wanting to apply for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana can do so at the official portal
Crops covered
The crops covered under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana are listed as:
- Food crops like pulses, millets and cereals
- Annual commercial or annual horticultural crops
- Oilseeds
In addition to the perennial crops, pilots for coverage can be taken for those perennial horticulture crops for which standard methodology for yield estimation is available
Reporting crop loss and claiming insurance
The farmer can report crop loss within the first 72 hours of the occurrence of any event through the crop insurance app, CSCs or any of the nearest agriculture officers. The benefit claimed is then provided electronically into the bank accounts of the eligible farmers.