Why in news?

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme until 2025-26.

The schemes have been allocated an enhanced outlay of ₹69,515.71 crore for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.

What’s in today’s article?

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
• Key features of the PMFBY
• Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme
• Crop insurance scheme gets Rs 69,515 crore boost

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

• About:
• A scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, PMFBY is an insurance service for farmers for their yields, launched in 2016.
• The new Crop Insurance Scheme is in line with the One Nation One Scheme theme. 
• The PMFBY replaced the previous two schemes: the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and the Modified NAIS.
• It has incorporated the best features of all previous schemes while eliminating all previous shortcomings.
• Objectives:
• To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crops as a result of natural calamities, pests and diseases.
• To stabilise the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
• To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
• To ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.

Key features of the PMFBY

• Premium rates
• There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops (winter sown).
• In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%.
• Area based approach
• The Scheme will be implemented on an 'Area Approach basis,' i.e., Defined Areas for each notified crop for widespread calamities,
• The unit of insurance shall be Village/Village Panchayat level for major crops and for other crops it may be a unit of size above the level of Village/Village Panchayat.
• It is assumed that all insured farmers in a unit of insurance, to be defined as a "Notified Area" for a crop, face similar risk exposures.
• No upper limit to subsidy
• There is no upper limit on Government subsidy. This means, even if the balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.
• Use of technology
  • Smartphones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers.
  • Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crops cutting experiments.
• The use of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. For example,
• Beneficiaries to be covered
  • Earlier, the enrolment was compulsory for farmers who possess a Crop Loan account or Kisan Credit Card (KCC) account, etc). 
• All farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.
• To address the demand of farmers, the scheme has been made voluntary for all farmers from Kharif 2020.

Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)

• RWBCIS was introduced by the Government of India in 2016 to safeguard farmers against financial losses caused by unfavourable weather conditions.
• These conditions encompass factors such as rainfall, temperature, wind, and humidity.
• The scheme offers coverage for a range of crops, including food crops, oilseeds, and commercial or horticultural crops.
• Its primary objective is to provide comprehensive insurance protection for various perils like drought, flood, cyclone, and hailstorm, thereby mitigating the impact of crop damage on farmers.
• Eligibility - All farmers, including sharecroppers and tenant farmers, growing notified crops in notified areas.
• 

Crop insurance scheme gets Rs 69,515 crore boost

• Continuation of PMFBY and RWBCIS till 2025-26
  • The Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the PMFBY and the RWBCIS until 2025-26.
• Risk Coverage and Technology Infusion
  • The schemes aim to provide risk coverage for crops against non-preventable natural calamities.
  • To increase transparency and efficiency in claim calculation and settlement, the Cabinet approved the creation of the Fund for Innovation and Technology (FIAT) with a corpus of ₹824.77 crore.
• Technological Initiatives under FIAT
  • Yield Estimation System using Technology (YES-TECH):
    • Utilizes Remote Sensing Technology for yield estimation, with at least 30% weightage to technology-based estimates.
    • Currently implemented in 9 states, with efforts to onboard others.
    • Madhya Pradesh has adopted 100% technology-based yield estimation, eliminating the need for Crop Cutting Experiments.
  • Weather Information and Network Data Systems (WINDS):
    • Plans to establish Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) at the block level and Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs) at the Panchayat level.
    • Aims to increase network density fivefold for hyper-local weather data.
    • WINDS implementation starts in 2024-25, with states like Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh participating.
• Special Provisions for Northeastern States
• The Centre will share 90% of the premium subsidy for Northeastern states.
• Flexibility is provided to reallocate funds to other development projects if required due to low gross cropped area or voluntary participation.
• Key Benefits
  • Enhanced risk coverage for farmers across India.
  • Transition to technology-based systems for increased accuracy and transparency.
  • Support for Northeastern farmers with higher subsidy sharing.