PM Fasal Bima Yojana | PMFBY Scheme UPSC
By Balaji
Updated on: February 17th, 2023
PM Fasal Bima Yojana is the government’s flagship agriculture insurance scheme in India, aligned with the One Nation-One Scheme ethos. PM Fasal Bima Yojana was launched in 2016 after revamping earlier schemes-. Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS), Weather-based Crop Insurance scheme, and the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS).
The PM Fasal Bima Yojana Launch Date was 13 January 2016, and the main aim of PMFBY is to provide a comprehensive risk solution by providing a uniform lower premium to all farmers across the country. PM Fasal Bima Yojana Topic is important as it can be asked as a current affairs question or under government policies.
Table of content
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1. What is the PM Fasal Bima Yojana?
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2. PM Fasal Bima Yojana Details
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3. Objectives of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
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4. Risks Covered Under PM Fasal Bima Yojana
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5. Features of PM Fasal Bima Yojana
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6. Revamped PM Fasal Bima Yojana 2.0
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7. Technology under PM Fasal Bima Yojana
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8. PMFBY Scheme in Northeast India
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9. PM Fasal Bima Yojana UPSC
What is the PM Fasal Bima Yojana?
In keeping with the One Nation-One Scheme idea, the PM Fasal Bima Yojana is the government’s main scheme for crop insurance in India.
- The programme covers annual commercial/annual horticultural crops, oilseeds, and food crops (cereals, millets, and pulses).
- PM Fasal Bima Yojana is optional for farmers who have not taken out institutional credit, but it is mandatory for all farmers who have taken out institutional loans from banks. (This was changed after the Kharif season of 2020, and enrolment became voluntary.)
- The Ministry of Agriculture is in charge of the programme.
PM Fasal Bima Yojana Details
Recently, to mark the 6th year of PM Fasal Bima Yojana, the government has launched Meri Policy Mere Hath which is a campaign to motivate all farmers to take insurance. The campaign includes doorstep delivery of all related documents.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana |
Highlights |
PM Fasal Bima Yojana Premium |
Kharif Crops – 2% Rabi Crops – 1.5% Annual commercial and horticultural crops- 5% |
PM Fasal Bima Yojana Launch Date |
13 January 2016 |
Beneficiary |
Mandatory for loanee farmers (Crop Loan/Kisan Credit Card) Optional for others |
PMFBY 2.0 |
Revamped in 2020 Kharif Season |
Risks Covered |
Localized Risk coverage like a hail storms and landslide Post Harvest Losses coverage – cyclonic and unseasonal rain Prevented Sowing coverage- |
The article below consists of a brief description of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana, citing its importance in the context of UPSC.
Objectives of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
The PM Fasal Bima Yojana intends to support the agricultural sector’s long-term yield generation. PMFBY will accomplish this by putting in place the following measures:
- Farmers who have lost or damaged their crops due to unforeseen events will be given financial assistance through PM Fasal Bima Yojana.
- Ensuring that farmers’ incomes are stable in order for them to continue farming.
- Farmers are being encouraged to embrace and employ modern technology and agricultural practices in order to produce more efficiently and with higher yields.
- Keeping credit flowing to the agriculture sector contributes to food security, crop diversity, and the agriculture sector’s growth and competitiveness, as well as safeguarding farmers from production hazards, which is another objective of PM Fasal Bima Yojana.
Risks Covered Under PM Fasal Bima Yojana
The following risks and events are covered under PM Fasal Bima Yojana.
- Yield Losses (standing crops, on a notified area basis)
- Yield losses due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Storm, Lightning, Cyclone, Hailstorm, Tempest, Typhoon, Tornado, and hurricanes.
- Risks due to Flood, Inundation, and Landslide.
- Drought, Dry spells, and Pests/ Diseases also will be covered
- Prevention of Sowing: If the majority of insured farmers are unable to sow due to adverse weather conditions and have incurred costs for sowing.
- Post-harvest losses
- Localized issues are also covered.
Features of PM Fasal Bima Yojana
The following are the main features of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
- Provision for full crop insurance coverage in the event of unavoidable crop loss. The goal is to keep farmers’ income stable while also encouraging innovative farming practices.
- Crop cycle insurance has been improved and expanded to cover losses that occur during pre-sowing and post-harvesting.
- PM Fasal Bima Yojana adopts an Area Approach to resolve claims for widespread damage, in which an Insurance Unit is reduced to a Village or Panchayat level for significant crops.
- By removing premium capping rules and other reductions on the total insured, PMFBY makes it easier for farmers to get their claims for the entire sum insured without any concessions.
- In addition to landslides and hailstorms, inundation (flooding) has been included as a localized tragedy for individual farm assessments.
- The PM Fasal Bima Yojana now provides assessments for post-harvest losses at the individual farm level. This includes losses caused by unseasonal and cyclonic rains across the country, which kill crops that had been allowed to dry for up to two weeks.
- The insurance proceeds are deposited straight into the farmer’s bank account via electronic transfer.
- In addition, from the Kharif 2016 season onwards, there’s another scheme – The unified Package Insurance Scheme (UPIS), that has been introduced for implementation, though on a pilot basis. This will be applicable to 45 districts across the country to cover other assets/activities. The activities covered will be machinery, life, accident, house, and student safety for farmers (under PM Fasal Bima Yojana / Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme – WBCIS).
Revamped PM Fasal Bima Yojana 2.0
The Union Cabinet has authorized a revision of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana and changes to its current provisions to address issues in the implementation of the crop insurance plan. This incredible project has now been running for five years.
As a result, the redesigned PM Fasal Bima Yojana 2.0 aims to assure timely computation and payment of claims to farmers proportionate to crop loss through a number of technological interventions, as well as the government’s implementation of additional improvements to the scheme.
- N-E States: The central government’s portion of premium subsidies for north-eastern states will be enhanced from 50% to 90%.
- Information, Communication, and Education (ICE) Activities – Insurance firms are required to spend 0.5 per cent of total premiums received on ICE activities.
- State adaptability: States and Union Territories will be able to set their own scale of financing for each district crop combination. States/UTs are also given the option of running the plan with a variety of risk covers.
- Maximum Premium Subsidy for the Centre: The central subsidy for unirrigated areas/crops will be limited to premium rates of up to 30%. The central subsidy for irrigated areas/crops will be limited to premium rates of up to 25%.
- Irrigated districts are defined as those with more than 50% of their land under irrigation.
- States will be barred from running the scheme in subsequent seasons if they fail to release the required premium subsidy for insurance companies within a certain timeframe (March 31 for Kharif Season; September 30 for Rabi Season).
- Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) will be conducted using technology solutions such as Smart Sampling Technique (SST).
- Voluntary Enrolment: From the 2020 Kharif season, the PMFBY scheme is 100% optional for all farmers.
Technology under PM Fasal Bima Yojana
The use of technology under PMFBY is promoted by the Government
- Crop Insurance App: The app allows the farmers to easily enrol in the PM Fasal Bima Yojana and report the crop loss within 72hrs of the event.
- To monitor and evaluate the loss of crops, drones, AI, satellite imagery, machine learning, and remote-sensing technology are used.
- PM Fasal Bima Yojana Portal: For land records integration.
PMFBY Scheme in Northeast India
There are various causes of PM Fasal Bima Yojana’s failure in Northeast India
- Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh are the only states in Northeast India that are not covered by the PM Fasal Bima Yojana Insurance scheme. This is owing to the insurance companies’ disinterest in the northeastern states.
- In addition, the state’s failure to pay its insurance premium portion due to a lack of funds adds to the difficulties. Because of the high administrative costs in certain states, insurance firms are unwilling to bid on them.
- In the states, there is a lack of reliable land records and other historical yield data, particularly at the block and gramme panchayat levels.
- Crop-cutting studies that provide a fair, precise, and accurate yield estimation of the crops, which is required for horticulture crops, are challenging to conduct.
Except in Assam, the Northeast has a small number of loanee farmers. Hence insurance coverage is minimal. Due to the lack of appropriate weather forecasting infrastructure in certain areas, insurance programmes reliant on the weather are impacted.
PM Fasal Bima Yojana UPSC
PM Fasal Bima Yojana is an important topic in the syllabus of current affairs and government policy. To learn more about PMFBY UPSC Topic, check the current affairs. You can also check the relevant UPSC Books like India Year Book to complete the topic.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is an important topic from the perspective of the UPSC Prelims and UPSC Mains. Aspirants who are going to appear for the UPSC Exam this year can get the UPSC Syllabus here. You can also practice the questions from the UPSC Previous Year’s Question Papers.
➩ PM Fasal Bima Yojana UPSC Notes
PM Fasal Bima Yojana UPSC Question
Question. What is the reason behind the revamping of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana?
a.) To empower farmers to control risk in agriculture production by making them self-sufficient.
b.) To maintain the farm’s income.
c.) To assist farmers in the North-Eastern United States in managing agricultural risks.
d.) All of the above
Correct Answer:- Option d