Agriculture provides livelihood to more people than all other sectors put together. Agriculture production is highly variable due to uncertain weather vagaries, large rain fed area, pests and diseases. Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana (PMFBY) provides a comprehensive coverage to the farmers against the many such unforeseen crop losses.
- To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
- To stabiles the income of farmers to ensure their continuous process in farming.
- To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
- To ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.
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Uniform Premium: Farmers need to pay only 2% on SI as premium for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid will be only 5%.
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Low Premium and High Coverage:The premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and balance premium will be paid by the Government to provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss in any natural calamities.
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Significant Use of Technology: Smart phones, Remote sensing drone and GPS technologies will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in the claim payment.
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GoI’s National Agri Portal: Complete Farmer data is stored on a single portal – https://pmfby.gov.in
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Implementing Agency (IA): Only one Insurance Company is allowed to operate as IA for each cluster (a combination of Districts).
- Compulsory coverage for loanee farmers: Farmers who have availed Seasonal Operational Agriculture (SOA) loan will be mandatorily covered under this scheme by financial institutions like Banks etc.
- Optional coverage for non-loanee farmers: Farmers who have not availed any SOA loans can apply for coverage of crop insurance under non-loanee farmer category with some documents, as required/defined by State Government under Notification.
In addition to the yield losses, the scheme also covers,
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Prevented sowing / Planting / Germination Risk: Insured area is prevented from sowing / planting / germination due to deficit rainfall or adverse seasonal/weather conditions.
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Loss to standing crop from sowing to harvesting: Yield loss due to non-preventable risks, viz. Drought, Dry spell, Flood, Inundation, Pests and Diseases, Landslides, Fire due to natural causes,Lightening, Storm, Hailstorm and Cyclone.
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Post-Harvest losses: Up to a maximum period of two weeks from harvesting, for those crops which are required to be dried in cut and spread condition in the field after harvesting against specific perils of cyclone, cyclonic rains and unseasonal rains.
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Losses due to localized calamities
: Loss / damage to notified insured crops resulting from occurrence of identified localized risks of hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloud burst and natural fire due to lightening affecting isolated farms in the notified area.
- Add on coverage for crop loss due to attack by wild animals may be considered by state in the respective PMFBY tender wherever the risk in identifiable (premium for ths will be borne by farmers).
Season |
Crops |
Maximum premium Payable by farmers(% of sum insured)* |
Kharif | All food grain and oil seed crops | 2.0 % of SI or Actuarial rate, whichever is less |
Rabi | All food grain and oil seed crops | 1.5 % of SI or Actuarial rate, whichever is less |
Kharif and Rabi | Annual commercial/Annual horticultural crops | 5.0 % of SI or Actuarial rate, whichever is less |
*Only for notified crops in that particular area. Difference between actuarial premium rate and Maximum Premium Payable by farmers would be subsidized by State and Central Govt. in equal proportions.
Click here to know our premium, and select Premium calculator
The insurance cover will not be applicable in the damage of crops due to any of the following reasons.
- War & kindred perils
- Nuclear risks
- Riots
- Malicious damage
- Theft or act of enmity
- Grazed and/or destroyed by domestic and/or wild animals and other preventable risks shall be excluded.
Eligibility
- Only crops notified by State Government are covered under the scheme.
- Sum Insured varies with crop and district.
- Please click and select Insurance premium calculator to know Sum Insured, Farmer share of premium, Subsidy from Government etc.
Procedure
Non- Loanee Farmers:
- Non-loaneefarmer's can enrol through anyone of the channels given below.
- The non-loanee farmers are required to submit necessary documentary evidence of land records prevailing in the State Records of Right (RoR), Land possession Certificate (LPC), Identity Proof etc.
Loanee Farmers: Enrolment is compulsory for all loanee farmers. The documents are needed to be submitted to the Bank itself. Enrolment happens only through your respective banks.
Channels of Enrollment
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Prevented sowing / Planting / Germination Risk:
- State Govt. would declare a notified insurance unit as having suffered prevented sowing/ planting condition.
- Reports on Weather data, satellite imagery and crop condition and area sown data etc. shall be used as proxy indicator.
- Claim paid under this cover would be 25% of the sum insured and the Insurance cover will be terminated.
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Loss to standing crop from sowing to harvesting:
- Covers the losses due to adverse seasonal conditions during the crop season viz. floods, prolonged dry spells, severe drought etc.,
- Likely expected yield during the season is to be less than 50 % of normal yield.
- Maximum claim paid would be 25% of the likely claim, subjected to adjustment against final claims.
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Post-Harvest losses:
- Intimation to be given by the insured farmer within 72 hours, either to insurance company, concerned bank, local agriculture department, Govt. /district officials or through toll free number.
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Losses due to localized calamities:
- Intimation to be given by the insured farmer within 72 hours, either to insurance company, concerned bank, local agriculture department, Govt. /district officials or through toll free number.
Rainfall data supported by media reports in the local media or reports of the agriculture/ revenue department supported by media reports and other evidences shall be used as proxy indicator.
Intimation to be given by the insured farmer within 72 hours, either to insurance company, concerned bank, local agriculture department, Govt. /district officials or through toll free number.
Q1: What is Insurance ?
Ans: Insurance is a tool to protect you against a small probability of a large unexpected loss. It is a technique of providing people a means to transfer and share risk where losses suffered by few are met from the funds accumulated through small contributions made by many who are exposed to similar risks. Insurance is not a tool to make money but a tool to help compensate an individual or business for unexpected losses that might otherwise cause a financial disaster.
Q2: What is Crop Insurance ?
Ans: Crop insurance is a means of protecting the agriculturist against financial losses due to uncertainties that may arise from crop failures/losses arising from named or all unforeseen perils beyond their control.
Q3. Objective of PMFBY ?
Ans: Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) aims at supporting sustainable production in agriculture sector by way of - a) providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events b) stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming c) encouraging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices d) ensuring flow of credit to the agriculture sector; which will contribute to food security, crop diversification and enhancing growth and competitiveness of agriculture sector besides protecting farmers from production risks.
Q4. What are Sum Insured / Coverage Limit ?
Ans: 1. Sum Insured per hectare for both loanee and non-loanee farmers will be same and equal to the Scale of Finance as decided by the District Level Technical Committee, and would be pre-declared by SLCCCI and notified. No other calculation of Scale of Finance will be applicable. Sum Insured for individual farmer is equal to the Scale of Finance per hectare multiplied by area of the notified crop proposed by the farmer for insurance. 'Area under cultivation' shall always be expressed in 'hectare'. 2. Sum insured for irrigated and un-irrigated areas may be separate
Q5. Where can I find more details about PMFBY ?
Ans: For detailed coverage, exclusions and operational modalities, please read
Operational Guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana issued by Government of India.