A two-day National Review Conference was held in Bengaluru under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Senior government officials from across the country, top officials from various insurance companies, and Vinay Singh, Director of the Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Department, participated in this national-level conference.
 

During the conference, Vinay Singh presented important policy suggestions to make the Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme implemented in Himachal Pradesh more farmer-friendly. He noted that Himachal Pradesh’s mountain horticulture, especially apple-based agriculture, is high-investment, long-term, and highly climate-sensitive. Consequently, similar risk models developed for plain states are not effective in Himalayan conditions.
 

Vinay Singh explained that events like hailstorms, frost, and cloudbursts are highly localized and intense in mountainous regions. Accurately assessing these risks requires micro-level weather indices and a comprehensive network of automated weather stations. He added that hailstorms should be recognized as a primary risk, not just an “add-on risk,” and that frost damage should also be included as a major component of insurance coverage.
 

Referring to the impacts of climate change, he said that to account for changes in the crop calendar, insurance coverage periods should not be static but should be linked to crop phenology. He also underlined that apple orchards are not just seasonal crops, but long-term capital assets. Therefore, permanent damage to trees must also be included in the insurance coverage.
 

He explained that due to changing weather patterns over the past 15 years, apple-producing areas haven’t received sufficient snowfall, reducing the required chilling hours during the winter. The Royal apple variety requires 1,200 to 1,600 hours at temperatures below 7 degrees Celsius for optimal flowering and fruiting. This lack of chilling hours is adversely affecting production, and therefore, the insurance payout needs to be increased from the current ₹265.
 

He informed that this year, approximately 62,000 orchardists in Himachal Pradesh have insured their crops under this scheme. However, the add-on option for hailstorms did not receive the expected participation, despite the provision of compensation of up to Rs 450 per tree in case of damage by charging a premium of only Rs 23 per tree.
 

The Director of the Horticulture Department appealed to all orchardists in the state that the current crop insurance period for peach, plum, pomegranate, and orange crops is from February 14th to February 29th. All eligible orchardists should insure themselves under the crop insurance scheme in time to protect themselves from potential losses due to natural disasters.

Source - https://himachalheadlines.com