Government Working On Insurance Package For Farmers: Kundariya

Minister of State for Agriculture Mr. Mohanbhai Kundariya emphasized the need to explore possibilities of exchange of ideas between government and private insurance players to bring in and develop an effective, integrated and affordable insurance package for farmers across the country.

Inaugurating a Seminar on Agriculture Insurance in India: Challenges and the Way Forward under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Minister said, the need of the hour is to make agriculture a risk-free activity by protecting farmers from financial and crop yield risks. This calls for a relentless efforts to map the bank and post office accounts of all farmers and link these to the insurance schemes. To make the agriculture insurance attractive among the farmers, there is a need to review the existing dissemination and extension mechanism.

According to the Minister, the government has been implementing three major insurance schemes such as National Agriculture Insurance Scheme, Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme and Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme.

However, due to lack of awareness among the farmers on risk mitigation effects of insurance and inadequate enthusiasm of bankers and other financial intermediaries, these schemes have not made large impact even through these insurance products have tremendous risk mitigating capabilities, pointed out Mr. Kundariya.

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani in his address added that crop insurance has assumed importance due to uncertainty and large scale damage caused due to vagaries of weather, crop diseases and also due to pest attacks. The objective is to provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the even of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities.

In his welcome remarks President, PHD Chamber Mr. Alok B. Shriram said, India's failure at providing public crop insurance does not stand alone. In both the developing and developed world, governments' crop insurance schemes have run at huge losses while not delivering an effective product. The inadequacy of such schemes is a well established fact. On the other hand, private insurance does exist in situations where it is feasible and no subsidized insurance is offered. The farmers therefore, do not stand to benefit due to this prevailing scenario which required a serious change.

Chairman, Insurance Committee, PHD Chamber Mr. Yogesh Logiya said that the crop insurance is one alternative to manage risk in yield loss by farmers. It is the mechanism to reduce the impact of income loss on the farmer. Crop insurance is a means of protecting farmers against the variations in yield resulting from uncertainty of practically all natural factors beyond their control.

Chairman, Agribusiness Committee, PHD Chamber, Mr. M N Kejriwal said that the agricultural insurance is a more efficient instrument and an effective institutionalized mechanism for dealing with the problems associated with farming and climatic extremes. It helps to streamline the relief efforts and reduces the direct and indirect losses of the farmers due to natural calamities.

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