While poor rain this year in the district, the second lowest in the past 15 years, has hugely affected farming in Madurai, poor insurance coverage of crops has further increased the risk of considerable financial loss to farmers. Officials point out that the area covered under the insurance scheme, Prime Minister Fasal Bheema Yojana (PMFBY), for paddy was not even two-third of the total area. They said that the coverage for other crops was also poor.“It is worrisome since there is an apparent push from the government to compensate all losses to the farmers through insurance, instead of expecting special relief packages later,” a senior official, speaking on anonymity. Officials cite general disinterest among farmers as primary reason for poor insurance coverage. Farmers, on the other hand, have pointed out difficulties they faced while attempting to insure their crops. A particular issue raised during the farmers’ grievance meet at the Collectorate on Friday was the problems faced by tenant farmers, cultivating in leased land. P. Solaimalai, a farmer, said, “For applying insurance, we need a certificate from Village Administrative Officers. However, they are hesitant to issue the certificate for different reasons, one being the fear that the tenant-farmers may claim ownership over the land with the certificate,” he said. Echoing the issue, many farmers suggested that the VAOs could issue the certificate with a disclaimer that it was valid only for this farming season. Hearing the concerns, Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao assured that he had instructed all officials to avoid these bureaucratic delays. “Registered tenants should not have any issues in getting the certificate. Other tenant farmers can show appropriate documentation to get the certificates,” he said. Since many farmers who had sown paddy for the samba season had not insured their crop, they also requested extension of deadline, which ended on Thursday. However, S. Kanagaraj, Joint Director of Agriculture, Madurai, said that the suggestion was ruled out by the insurance company since the deadline had already been extended twice. “But the window is still open for paddy for navarai season, only in those villages that are approved for navarai cultivation. The farmers can make use of it,” he said. Mr. Rao also told The Hindu that the farmers should insure other rabi crops such as millets and pulses, for which the window was still open. “Due to failure of monsoon and awareness initiatives by district administration, many farmers this year had switched to millets and pulses, which is welcome. However, a considerable amount of area of these crops are not insured,” he said, adding that the district administration was willing to provide all help in getting these areas covered under insurance. Source - http://www.thehindu.com