Don't include sugarcane under crop insurance: Centre to UP

Centre today asked the Uttar Pradesh government not to include sugarcane under the crop insurance scheme as it is not a risky crop.
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has written a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to reconsider its decision to include sugarcane under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
"Sugarcane is normally not a risky crop...It does not appear to be right thing to include sugarcane under the crop insurance scheme. There is a need to reconsider this issue," Singh said in the letter.
The Union Minsiter said that even farmers have objections for including sugarcane under PMFBY.

The state government had on June 10 notified various crops including sugarcane to be insured under the PMFBY in different districts.
Last month, the Union government officials had held a meeting at Lucknow with the state officials and discussed the issue of objection raised by sugarcane farmers of western UP for compulsory coverage of their crop in the scheme to loanee farmers.
As many as 22 states, barring Bihar and Punjab, have introduced the new crop insurance scheme. The remaining states are in the process of implementing the scheme.
Under PMFBY, farmers premium has been kept lower between 1.5-2 per cent for foodgrains and oilseed crops and up to 5 per cent for horticultural and cotton crops. There is no cap on the premium.