PMFBY: Over 50 Lakh Farmers in Maharashtra Register for PM Crop Insurance Scheme

Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Marathwada farmers have taken the lead in crop insurance.

As of July 25, more than 50 lakh farmers in the state had registered their crop under the crop insurance scheme of the central government.

Farmers without loans outweigh those who have loans in the scheme, with the most registrations coming from the divisions of Latur and Aurangabad. 84.07 lakh farmers had signed up for the programme during the previous kharif season.

By the end of the season, Agriculture department officers predicted that registration would equal or surpass figures from the previous year.

Similar to previous years, when it comes to insuring their crops, farmers who chose not to use institutional funding outnumber those who did. 1.91 loanee farmers and up to 48.29 lakh non-loanee farmers have registered for the scheme.

Up to this point, a total of Rs 14,318.31 crore has been insured. Farmers contributed Rs 3,23.95 crore toward the premium as their part, with state and central governments covering the rest sum.

The "Beed model" will be used to implement the Maharashtra scheme this season. This approach, which bears the name of the Marathwada district, calls for insurance firms to refund a portion of the premium in the event that the amount of the award is less than the premium amount received.

The state government will cover the bridge amount if the compensation amount exceeds 11% of the premiums received.

With the help of this model, insurance companies will be prevented from recording windfall profits in years with smaller payouts.

Agriculture activity in the state has increased, with 1.05 lakh hectares of sowing reported as of last week, following a rather dry June. The most widely planted crops are soyabean (38.14 lakh hectares) and cotton (36.87 lakh hectares).

However, the cultivation of pulses has decreased as farmers switch to more lucrative crops like cotton and oilseeds. Maharashtra anticipates a record crop of cotton and soyabean this season due to the closing of the pulse sowing window.