Govt approves new crop insurance plan for farmers
Faced with two consecutive drought years, the Centre on Wednesday cleared a crop insurance scheme under which farmers’ premium has been kept at a maximum of 2 per cent for foodgrains and oilseeds and up to 5 per cent for horticulture/cotton crops. To be rolled out from the kharif season this year, the much awaited scheme — Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana — was cleared at the Cabinet meeting, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PMFBY will replace the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as Modified NAIS which have had some inherent drawbacks. “The cabinet has cleared the Agriculture Ministry’s proposal on new crop insurance scheme,” sources said. It has approved farmers’ premium between 1.5 to 2 per cent for foodgrains and oilseeds crops, and up to 5 per cent for horticultural and cotton crops, they said. The farmers’ premium would be 1.5 per cent for rabi foodgrains and oilseeds crops, while 2 per cent for kharif foodgrains and oilseeds crops. For h