Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana turns Nine

On February 18, 2025, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana marks its nine-year anniversary.

Key Highlights

• Launched in 2016 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the scheme offers a comprehensive shield against crop losses caused by unpredictable natural hazards.
• This protection not only stabilizes farmers’ income but also encourages them to adopt innovative practices.
• Crop insurance is an important risk mitigation tool to protect farmers from natural calamities. It aims at providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of natural calamities like hailstorm, drought, floods, cyclones, heavy and unseasonal rains, attack of disease and pests etc.
• The Union Cabinet in January 2025 approved the continuation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme till 2025-26 with a total budget of ₹69,515.71 crore.
• Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) is a weather index-based scheme, which was introduced along with PMFBY.
• The maximum premium payable by the farmer will be 2% for the Kharif food and oilseed crops.
• For rabi food and oilseeds crop, it is 1.5% and for yearly commercial or horticultural crops it will be 5%. The remaining premium is subsidized by the government.
• The scheme covers natural disasters (droughts, floods), pests, and diseases, along with post-harvest losses due to local risks like hailstorms and landslides.
• Timely Compensation: PMFBY aims to process claims within two months of the harvest to ensure that farmers get the compensation quickly, preventing them from falling into debt traps.
• Technology-Driven Implementation: PMFBY integrates advanced technologies like satellite imaging, drones, and mobile apps for precise estimation of crop loss, ensuring accurate claim settlements.
• Though the scheme is voluntary for farmers, non-loanee farmers’ coverage has increased to 55% of the total coverage under the scheme during 2023-24, which shows the voluntary acceptability/popularity of the scheme.