Telangana is one of the many states and districts that have experienced crop loss in recent months due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms. With the losses of the crop, implementing an insurance scheme for crops is now a topic of discussion. Earlier, Telangana was included in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bina Yojana which is also known as (PMFBY). After 2020, the states were allowed to continue or withdraw from the scheme and Telangana opted to discontinue the scheme.
The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was initiated in the year 2016 dated 18 February by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is an insurance scheme initiated for farmers for their crops. The scheme was created with the motive of the “One Nation–One Scheme” theme and thus it replaced National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS). The scheme was introduced to lessen the farmer’s burden and make sure early settlement of claimed crop assurance.
The scheme, covers Food & Oilseeds crops and Annual Commercial/Horticultural Crops, Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs), and General Crop Estimation Survey (GCES).
Under this Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bina Yojana, nearly 1802 lakh farmer’s applications have been enrolled since 2018. If we talk about Telangana, nearly 10 lakh farmers benefited in 2018-19 which is nearly 2 lakhs more than 2016-2017.
In 2019, the centre reduced its share by 50 per cent in irrigated regions. A few states including Gujarat and Telangana planned to exit from the scheme. However, the centre also announced that the rate of premium will remain the same at 2 per cent for Kharif crops, 5 per cent for horticulture, and 1.5 per cent for rabi.
As per media reports, activists and experts argue that Telangana should develop and introduce its own crop insurance scheme which is free from the guidelines and conditions that exist in Fasal Bina Yoajana. Experts also said that states like Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Chattisgarh, have formulated their insurance schemes for crops.
