22% dip in no. of Vid farmers opting for crop insurance

Nagpur: Around 22% fewer farmers went for the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme in Vidarbha this year. This trend surfaced after the clause that made it mandatory for crop loans to be accompanied by insurance was done away with.

As per multiple estimates, there are over 40 lakh farmers in Vidarbha, with Nagpur and Amravati divisions comprising eastern and western parts of the region, respectively. Figures for last two years indicate that less than half of the farmers have availed the crop insurance. There has been a further reduction in 2020.

This is despite the farmers only having to shell out 2% of the premium, with rest of the cost being borne by the Centre and state. In Nagpur division, the number of farmers choosing the crop cover is down by 1.32 lakh this year. As against 4.5 lakh farmers getting the insurance done during the kharif season of 2019, it has come down to 3.18 lakh in 2020. In Amravati division, over 14 lakh farmers had gone for the crop insurance in 2019. The figure stands at 11 lakh this year — an average reduction of 22% in both the regions.

Sources said there was always a reluctance over the insurance in Vidarbha. Farmers not getting claims as per expectations could also be a reason; the insurance coverage is much higher in Marathwada, for instance. There have been demands for a change in the method of computation of losses. At present, the threshold limit is 70% of the average yield of the best five years out of the last seven.

Farmers said the threshold limit is too low and insurance companies hardly need to pay any compensation. Last year, the farmers got compensation to the tune of Rs250 crore in Nagpur and Amravati divisions combined. This included more than Rs80 crore paid for preventive delay in sowing by paddy farmers.

Veteran farm activist Vijay Jawandhia said the agriculturists of the region had scant trust on the insurance scheme, due to the poor payout. “The farmers have always complained that even in times of major losses, the output was more than the threshold limit fixed under the scheme,” he added.

Kishore Tiwari, the chairman of state government agency Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalamban Mission (VNSSM), said a number of farmers could not apply for the insurance cover due to lockdown restrictions. He added that farmers did not have much faith in the scheme.

Source: The Times of India

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