If reports are to be believed, the Cabinet is likely to approve a new agriculture insurance scheme for farmers, which will involve the use of drones to assess crop loss. The New Crop Insurance Scheme (NCIS), expected to be approved by the Cabinet next week, will collate feed from drones with satellite imaging and remote sensing technology to help insurance companies in calculating actual damage to crops. This will lead to a much more accurate disbursement. In addition to this, the use of smartphones and online data transmission will bring down the time taken to finalize the total yield data. NCIS also aims at bringing the premium rates down, in comparison to the existing insurance scheme, under which the average premium rate for farmers stands at 5.5%. Maximum premium of up to 1.5% for wheat, 2.5% for paddy, 2% for oilseeds, and 2 to 2.5% for other crops has also been proposed under the new scheme. Maximum premium for horticulture crops has been proposed at 5%. Currently, this premium touches 40% in certain cases. The new scheme is likely to be operation from 2016-17. Under the newly proposed scheme, farmers will get damages of the post-harvest product destroyed due to cyclone or unseasonal rains, up to a maximum of two weeks on ‘individual loss assessment basis’. As per agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, discrepancies in the existing Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS), is the reason the government wishes to work on a completely new scheme. Source - skymetweather.com