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The state government has directed the agriculture department to take necessary steps to increase yield of insured crops in order to reduce premium burdens on farmers. Educating farmers to adopt modern farming method will lead to yield increase, it said.
"No crop insurance scheme will be feasible if the premium rate is not kept between 1 per cent and 2 per cent. So risk management strategy should be incorporated in cultivation so that yield will be increased by 10 to 15 per cent and premium rates will be reduced," the chief secretary was quoted saying in the minutes of a meeting of the agriculture department.
According to crop insurance guidelines, the premium of insured crop is 2.5 per cent of threshold yield multiplied with minimum support price. The government said, increasing crop yield will bring down premium costs and has advised certain measures to improve crop yield.
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"Submergent resistant variety seeds should be used in flood prone areas. Pre-sowing treatment should be ascertained to prevent diseases. Line showing and line transportation of crops should be promoted to increase yield rate." the chief secretary added.
Crop insurance is provided by Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited (AICIL), the implementing agency of the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS). It disburses claims to farmers in association with banks. According to the scheme, all farmers who avail crop loans are automatically insured for the crops they grow. Farmers, who do not avail any crop loan, can purchase the insurance on voluntary basis.
In last kharif season, the AICIL had disbursed Rs 397.23 crore towards crop insurance claim against crop loss. During kharif 2013, Odisha was severely affected by the Phailin cyclonic storm followed by devastating floods.
While claims worth Rs 392.62 crore were sanctioned for paddy, Rs 4.61 crore was approved for maize and cotton crops. Around 1.3 million farmers of the state are covered under the scheme with the sum insured being Rs 3,370 crore against premium collection of Rs 85.57 crore.
In Odisha, 10 crops have been identified for insurance facility. They are paddy, maize, groundnut, jute, cotton, red gram, turmeric, niger, ginger and banana.
