The number of farmers enrolling under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) has witnessed significant growth in recent years.
Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the leading state in farmer applications under PMFBY, with a record-breaking 1.77 crore enrollments in 2023-24.
Growth in Crop Insurance Applications
The applications for crop insurance under PMFBY and RWBCIS have seen a remarkable increase, with year-on-year growth of 35.12% in 2022-23 and 27.50% in 2023-24. This marks the highest participation since the inception of the scheme.
The government remains committed to ensuring financial security for farmers against crop loss due to adverse climatic conditions. To protect farmers from yield losses caused by natural calamities, adverse weather conditions, pests, and diseases, two major crop insurance schemes—PMFBY and RWBCIS—are being implemented nationwide.
Features of PMFBY and RWBCIS
PMFBY provides comprehensive risk coverage from pre-sowing to post-harvest losses against non-preventable natural risks. On the other hand, RWBCIS offers indemnification for expected crop losses due to deviations in weather indices. While PMFBY is available to all farmers who opt for insurance, participation in the scheme remains voluntary for both farmers and state governments.
Premium rates under these schemes are actuarially determined. Farmers benefit from extremely low premium rates: a maximum of 2% of the insured sum for Kharif crops, 1.5% for Rabi crops, and 5% for commercial/horticultural crops. Due to government interventions, premium rates have been significantly reduced in states such as Maharashtra, Odisha, Meghalaya, Puducherry, and Jharkhand. In these states, the government bears the farmers’ share of the premium, requiring them to pay only ₹1 as their contribution. This move aims to expand access to crop insurance across the country.
The remaining premium cost is equally shared between the central and state governments (50:50). However, for the North-Eastern states (from Kharif 2020) and Himalayan states (from Kharif 2023), the cost-sharing ratio is 90:10.
State-Wise Performance
The highest number of farmer enrollments in 2023-24 was recorded in Madhya Pradesh, reaching 1.77 crore applications. Rajasthan followed with 3.89 crore applications, while Maharashtra registered 2.41 crore. Other states such as Odisha (1.40 crore) and Chhattisgarh (81.24 lakh) also reported significant participation.
Source - https://www.en.krishakjagat.org
