The Agriculture Ministry has written to States and Union Territories seeking their views on whether the Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) crop insurance scheme should be made voluntary for farmers. At present, the scheme is compulsory in nature. As per data, as many as 5.5 crore farmers have been enrolled for Kharif and Rabi crops under the scheme in 2018-19.
Responding to a supplementary question during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Agriculture Purushottam Ropala said on Monday, the Agriculture Ministry has written to all States seeking their views on whether the scheme should be made voluntary/optional for farmers.
He said the letter was written after some State Governments and farmer unions demanded the Agriculture Ministry make the scheme voluntary.
In its written reply, the government said the scheme is made compulsory for farmers who have availed loans and remains voluntary for those who have not availed loans. "With a view to provide financial support to farmers and to make them eligible for next crop at the time of crop loss due to natural calamities, pests & diseases, the scheme is made compulsory for the loanee farmers growing notified crops in notified areas and the scheme is voluntary for non-loanee farmers," the minister said.
According to agriculture ministry, the PMFBY scheme envisaged a flat premium of 2 percent for Kharif crop and 1.5 percent for Rabi crops and 5 percent for horticultural crops to be paid by the farmer. The difference between the market rates and the rates paid by the farmer would be borne by the government.
Despite overall good monsoon during first two years of implementation of PMFBY, the claim ratio during 2016-17 and 2017-18 was about 74 percent and 83 percent respectively. But the farmers in most affected areas/States received higher claims and the claim ratio was high in these States viz. Kerala 209% and Karnataka-134%, during Kharif 2016, Tamil Nadu - 286% and Andhra Pradesh 172% during Rabi 2016- 17.
Similarly during Kharif 2017, the higher claim ratio was in the States of Chhattisgarh - 451%, Haryana - 269%, Madhya Pradesh - 161% and Odisha - 216%. During Rabi 2017-18 high claim ratio States were Odisha (226%), Tamil Nadu (122%) and Chhattisgarh (105%).
Though complete data for Kharif 2018 season is not available, high Claims ratio has been reported in States of Himachal Pradesh (215%), Haryana (120%), Uttarakhand (115%) and Chhattisgarh (111%) Hence, it is not correct to say that loanee farmers, for whom the Scheme is mandatory, are severely affected economically due to less settlement of claims. State-wise details of claim ratio during 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 (Provisional for Kharif 2018 season only as complete data is not available for Rabi 2018-19)
The performance of PMFBY was dismal in kharif 2017 itself. As against 4.04 crore farmers enrolled in kharif 2016, the numbers dropped by 14 per cent to 3.49 crore in the 2017 kharif season.
The total area insured under the scheme decreased by 13.27 per cent from 2017-18 to 2016-17. The area insured per farmer in the crop in 2017-18 was 0.02 hectares lesser than that in 2016-17.
In another reply on heat wave to livestock, the ministry said that it has issued a "Pashupalak Calendar" which is a month wise animal husbandry advisory for the farmers, which also include advisories for the months of April, May, June and July for reducing the impact of high temperature on livestock.
The ministry also stated that the government has taken a series of steps to protect indigenous breeds of cow under the Gokul Mission and in the next five years local breeds will be on par with foreign ones.