Odisha has notified six crops to be covered under the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) during Rabi 2015-16 season after reports of substantial crop loss in the preceding Kharif season because of drought conditions. The crops to be insured under the scheme, otherwise known as Rashtriya Krishi Bima Yojana, are paddy, groundnut , mustard , potato, black gram and green gram. The loanee farmers growing the notified crops in the notified defined area and availing loans from financial institutions are compulsorily covered under the NAIS while it is optional for non-loanee farmers. In Odisha, the Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited (AICIL) is the implementing agency for the scheme. The unit area for crop insurance will be gram panchayat for paddy and block for groundnut, mustard, potato, black gram and green gram. The premium subsidy for small and marginal farmers (having land holding of two hectares or less) will be 10 per cent of the total premium for Rabi 2015-16 which will equally be shared by the Centre and the state government. "The state government is encouraging non paddy crops to compensate the loss sustained by the farmers due to the wide spread drought situation. They are stressing on sowing of pulses", said Dasarathi Singh, deputy general manager, AICIL. As per reports, 1.34 million hectares of crop area have been affected in 215 blocks across 26 districts having a sustained crop loss of 33 per cent and above. Recently, the state government has submitted an additional memorandum amounting to Rs 2,199.06 crore to the Government of India for management of drought. However, the actual volume of crop loss will be ascertained after the crop cutting is over on the basis of which the state government will submit the final memorandum, if required. In Rabi 2014-15, as many as 1,17,582 farmers were covered with a sum assured of Rs 480 crore. Odisha has directed the banks to extend normal agricultural finance for Rabi crops during 2015-16 depending on the irrigation potential. The banks are asked to extend loans to the tune of Rs 4,500 crore in the ensuing Rabi season. Source - business-standard.com