India - Insurance firms fix low rates, put farmers in trouble

09.02.2017 540 views
The drought-hit farmers are now a worried lot, upset over the  Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and private insurance companies. According to farmers, the private insurance companies are trying to pay them a low amount as insurance by taking into account the sowing period as the crop loss period instead of the harvesting period. After the monsoon failure and the non-receipt of Cauvery water, farmers in the delta region managed to cultivate crops with groundwater. Despite having  grown the crops, the unprecedented rainfall destroyed it completely. Meanwhile, adding to the worries of the farmers who were expecting insurance for the failed crops, insurance companies were considering only the sowing period as against the harvest time. “With the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, the State and Central governments are only paying subsidies up to 26%. Afterwards, if there is any crop loss, the governments point towards the private insurance companies. Now, the private companies are playing games in connection with the insurance amount,” said ‘Cauvery’ Dhanapalan, president, Cauvery Delta Farmers Association. According to him, the insurance companies were considering crop loss as the loss which happened during the period of sowing, whereas the truth was that 90 per cent loss had occurred. “If the insurance companies consider the loss during the sowing period, farmers could get just `6,000 per acre as insurance. But actually the loss happened only during harvest time. If the companies consider the loss at the time of harvesting, they have to provide `26,000 per acre as insurance,” he added. Questioning the way crop assessment was done, Cauvery Delta Farmers Associations office-bearer Guru Gobi Ganesan said, “Nowadays, the officials are assessing the crops on the basis of villages. The place chosen for crop-cutting experiment is most often in well-grown parts. Despite 90 per cent of agricultural lands having become barren with the drought, the officials are assessing the remaining 10 per cent areas where crops have grown well.” Source - http://www.newindianexpress.com
20.08.2026

Philippines - Farm damage from ‘habagat’ and serial storms hits ₱1.7B

The agricultural damage caused by the recent typhoons has soared to more than P1.7 billion, affecting over 50,000 farmers and fisherfolk, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

20.08.2026

India - Tech Guard For Farms: MIT Muzaffarpur Students Develop AI Device To Protect Crops From Nilgai

For years, farmers in Bihar have relied on scarecrows, fencing and constant vigilance to protect their crops from nilgai, wild animals and birds. But these measures often lose their effectiveness as animals gradually learn to ignore them. 

20.08.2026

India - Madhya Pradesh embraces a new technological framework to estimate crop yield losses, but farmers say it misses damage on the ground

For farmer Makhan Singh Mewada, the 2025 kharif season ended long before harvest time. A combination of unseasonal rains and animal attacks destroyed more than a third of the soya bean he had sown on his 2-hectare field in Khamaliya village, located in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district.

20.08.2026

Kenya - Meru Farmers Take Vervet Monkey Crisis to Parliament Amid Rising Crop Losses

Farmers from Meru County have taken their grievances to Parliament, seeking government intervention over significant crop losses attributed to vervet monkeys. 

20.08.2026

India - Atchanna urges farmers to enrol in crop insurance before month-end

Agriculture minister K Atchannaidu has urged farmers to enrol in the crop insurance scheme before the month-end deadline, cautioning that El Nino could lead to rainfall deficits and erratic weather, increasing the risk of crop losses. 

20.08.2026

Nepal - More farmers are getting insurance, but crops are still left behind

Nepal issued more than 700,000 agricultural insurance policies in five years, but most cover livestock and fish, not crops.

19.08.2026

U.S. specialty crop growers seek US$5 billion in aid

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., called on Congress on Aug. 18 to direct as much as US$5 billion in additional federal assistance to specialty crop producers. 

19.08.2026

India - Kashmir apples lose their shine as extreme weather causes Rs 300-400 crore crop loss; growers suffer

Kashmir's apple crop has suffered extensive damage due to hailstorms, heavy rain and strong winds, with losses estimated at Rs 300-400 crore. South Kashmir is among the worst-hit regions, raising concerns for thousands of growers.