CROP INSURANCE -THE UMBRELLA EVERY FARMER NEEDS

 

(source: moneycontrol.com)

JAY JAVAN JAY KISAN is just a mere slogan in India today. Farmers in India are exposed to high-risk incidences due to unstable climate, crop failure, and insufficient financial security. Crop Insurance is not a recent advancement in India and dates back to the Mughal era when Emperor Akbar introduced the Dashuri tax. In 1920 J.S. Chakravarti formulated and recommended rain insurance, the state-wise regime for then Mysore followed by a mandatory insurance scheme in Madhya Pradesh in 1943. Dr. Dharm Narain's committee in 1971 prescribed what we know as the 1972-78 experimental crop insurance scheme or First Individual Approach Model-based Scheme, executed by the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC). In 1979-84 the GIC with Professor Dandekar's aid implemented an area-based insurance approach reaching 12 states. The scheme was for loanee agriculturalists voluntarily. Crop Insurance in India operates under four approaches - area-based, weather-based, crop-based, and income-based. In the new globalized era of the 1990s the Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme - CCIS which launched compulsory for small loan-based farmers in homogenous areas. National Agricultural Insurance Scheme – NAIS (1999-2007) paved an impetus to escort farmers under the umbrella of crop insurance in India. The weather-based crop insurance scheme started in 2007 which aimed to cater to the climatic gamble agriculture faces owing to crop failures by adverse weather conditions. The scheme provides settlements to farmers based on automated weather observations by RWS. ICICI -Lombard General Insurance Company crop insurance was established on a synthesized downpour index for Groundnut and Castor yields in Andhra Pradesh.

Farm Income Insurance 2003-04, a scheme for soybean farmers in Ujjain, The Rajasthan government’s crop insurance for an orange crop has been a benchmark, A number of opposite crop insurance schemes in India include Pulp Wood Tree, Sookha Suraksha Kavack (Drought Risk Insurance), Wheat-based (Weather and Biomass), Potato Crop, Poppy Insurance, Rubber Plantation Insurance, Mango Insurance, and Rabi Weather Insurance. Bio-Fuel Tree or Plant Insurance, the coffee rainfall index by AIC, and area yield insurance (Agroforestry Plantation Insurance). Speaking of the latest spans as India progresses towards a 5 trillion economy mark, hovering the footnotes of a developed economy the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana(PMFBY), 2016 revamps the agro-insurance sector in India. In India, incidences of imperfect information (high cost involved for report collection) and severe crop damage due to anticipated climate have anguished the participation of private insurance corporations providing in the crop insurance market because of the hefty incidences of insolvency in delivering huge compensations.

The CHALLENGES faced- Every coin has two sides, the crop insurance control is not a newbie to operational hindrances in Indian agriculture. Rural data collection is scattered and insurance settlements are individually based. The diversified demography of India, illiterate or unskilled farmers, poverty severity, socio-economic instability, unaffordability to pay premiums, inadequate land registration, and poor awareness lead to poor adaptation of crop insurance in rural India. Untimely settlements, lack of terms and conditions and policy requisites, technological usage, manipulation of crop yield data, all lead to its challenges.

SOME AID FROM SPACE.

Satellites have phenomenally modified the traditional approaches of data collection and implementation. Remote data sensing helps forecast the harvest periods for rice and wheat, drought occurrences, horticulture assessment, using space technology, agro-metallurgy, land observations, and geo-informatics. To avoid fraudulent claims, drones pave as a great supervisory instrument to specify the land under cultivation and crop health. The immediate and timely determinations help in settling the claims without outstretched time lags.

WAY FORWARD- The stakes involved in crop insurance are worldly, crop-centric, and perceptual. An individual-based approach though economically unfeasibly stands suitable compared to the current is and crop-based approaches. Therefore, we can rightly comment that diversified crop insurance products are to be manifested. The GoI must aspire to establish an effective tribunal for dispute and grievance settlements. Further inclusion of providing impetus to private insurance companies and a farmer-friendly regional help center are required for providing the security shelter every farmer today needs.

Authors

Miss Malaika Rana

Miss Ritika Chirekar

Miss Gunjan Bhojwani

Miss Anooshka Roy

Miss Swati Anand                   

 Research Scholars, 

M.Sc. Economics

Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT-WPU

Co-Author:

Prof. Gaurav Petkar

Professor, School of Economics

Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT-WPU