India may be agriculturally diverse and more advanced than many other countries in the world, but when it comes to crop insurance, the scenario is not so rosy. On the contrary, many of the African countries are significantly ahead of India in implementing the weather-based insurance system, which seems to have become the need of the hour - especially in the backdrop of deficient rainfall this year. Echoing this during a press interaction on Tuesday, Jaideep Devare, the managing director of Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd (MIBL), said, "Weather-based insurance is certainly the need of the hour in India, and all the stakeholders - Union government, Indian Meteorological Department, IRDA and insurance companies are working closely on this. The main challenge lies in getting the correct data, but we are hopeful that in the next few years, we would be able to find a tangible solution to this, and implement it." He further added that some of the African countries (such as Kenya and Ghana) have already started the weather-based insurance, and are getting effective results from it. "Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (India's insurance regulator) is open to this idea," Devare said, and added that there is also a need for cattle insurance in a country like India. "However, it's the cost effectiveness, which is the main challenge," he further added. Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com