Tamil Nadu farmers aretaking tocrop insurancein a big way, recording 45% rise in crop insurance coverage in terms of area and 34% increase in the number of farmers enrolling under the scheme y-o-y for the ongoing Kharif season. As against 3,11,486 acres covered under the insurance scheme by 2,74,177 farmers across the state last year, 4,53,198 acres have been brought under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) by 3,66,227 farmers till August 15 this year, according to agriculture department data available with TOI. Continuing rains in many parts of the state and fear of flooding are reasons for farmers showing greater interest in insurance coverage. Timely receipt of insurance compensation by farmers last year has improved confidence among the people, said agriculture secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi. "We got 8,855 crore sanctioned as claims in the last four years for 49 lakh farmers," said Bedi. Villupuram district has recordedthehighestenrolmentof 1,10,245 farmers, followed by Namakkal with 62,840 farmers and Nagapattinam with 43,300 farmers. No farmer in Ramanathapuram took insurance and just 21 and 51 did in Perambalur and Sivagangai respectively. Premium paid by farmers variesfrom crop tocrop andseason to season. For kharif season (2020-21), premium paid by farmersis2% of thetotalsum assured per hectare. The premium is charged at 5% of the total sum assured for cotton, turmeric, onopns, bananas, tapioca, brinjal and chillies. The state and central Governments’ share of the premium subsidy ranges between 5.5% and 21.5%. For paddy, it is 6.42%. Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com