Tech will help scale up reach of PMFBY with precision agriculture: Experts

Digitisation and technology will play a significant role in scaling up the reach and operations of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) with precision agriculture, experts said on Wednesday.

"There is a need to drive financial inclusion and progressive digital strategy for farmer prosperity using advanced technologies at an economic scale," Kolli N Rao, senior advisor of International Reinsurance and Insurance Consultancy and Broking Services (IRICBS), said.

Speaking during a webinar on 'Digitizing Crop Insurance', he added that there is also a need to develop need-based agri-insurance products or models for insurers, farmer-beneficiaries and government agencies.

It will also help in scaling up the reach and operations of PMFBY with precision agriculture, he noted.

Rao also said, "Partnerships of insurers and agrifintech players to enhance the efficiency of marketing and distribution for agri-insurance products through seamless service integrations were also a topic of discussion."

The house also agreed that the union of agtech and rural insurance is a successful formula for financial inclusion and farmer prosperity, he added.

HDFC Ergo GIC Senior Vice-President (Rural and Agri Business Group) Azad Mishra said use of historical and real-time satellite imagery, UAVs, remote-sensing-based crop health monitoring, crop acreage, and crop yield estimates, among others, will also be crucial for the agriculture sector.

CropIn co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Kunal Prasad said, "The agriculture sector has transformed with the aid of digital inclusion."

With the transition over the years, agri technology can now serve as an enabler for the improvement in agri businesses, while banks and financial institutions can leverage technology to estimate crop health, growth, and yield in real-time, he added.