In a piece of good news for distressed farmers, the state government has decided to increase the indemnity level for crop insurance from 60% to 70%. This will mean more agricultural area will be covered for crop losses and farmers could get higher compensation. This has been done under the new farm insurance scheme called the Pradhanmantri Pik Bima Yojana (PPBY). This is a central government initiative and has been implemented in the state from June 1. The state government will have to fork an additional sum of over Rs 1000 crore to accommodate this change. "With the severe drought this year, we found that many farmers would not get their insurance amount as their losses were more than 60%. This increase in indemnity levels will help many," said a senior official. So far, two agencies have been finalized for three circles in the state, for the others, the process to finalize the agency is on. Officials say under this scheme post-harvest losses have also been covered which were not included in any other scheme so far. The scheme provides crop insurance for two weeks after they have been harvested. Activists say that this provision may be helpful as crop losses due to rainfall or disease attack to the harvested crop is very high. The insurance is compulsory for all farmers who take loans from banks as per RBI and NABARD guidelines. Under the scheme, premium for grains is 2% of the total insured sum, for cash crops it is 5% and for orchards it is 5%. The last date to pay the crop premium is July 31 while for orchards it was July 12. Last year's data shows that in the Kharif season, of the 1.36 crore farmers in the state, 83.37 lakh farmers who had taken insurance for their crops, have got Rs 4,205 crore as compensation, highest since 1999. Both the state and central governments paid close to Rs 1,800 crore each, while the farmers share of the premium was close to Rs 400 crore. "The scheme offers more coverage and greater safeguard for farmers. We are trying to get as many farmers possible under PPBY," said the official.