The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) until FY 2025-26. The initiative has an overall financial outlay of ₹69,515.71 crore for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Key Highlights:
- Risk Coverage:
- The schemes aim to provide risk coverage for crops against non-preventable natural calamities, ensuring comprehensive insurance support for farmers across the country.
- Technology Infusion:
- A Fund for Innovation and Technology (FIAT) with a corpus of ₹824.77 crore has been created to support technological advancements, including:
- YES-TECH: Remote sensing-based yield estimation with 30% weightage to technology-driven methods. Adopted by nine states, including Madhya Pradesh, which has achieved 100% technology-based yield estimation.
- WINDS: Development of hyper-local weather data networks with automatic weather stations (AWS) and rain gauges at the block and panchayat levels. Implementation begins in FY 2024-25.
- A Fund for Innovation and Technology (FIAT) with a corpus of ₹824.77 crore has been created to support technological advancements, including:
- Focus on North Eastern States:
- Enhanced premium subsidy of 90:10 (Centre:State) for North Eastern States to prioritize farmer coverage.
- Flexibility in fund allocation to ensure efficient resource utilization.
Expected Impact:
- Wider adoption of technology for yield estimation and weather data collection will streamline claim calculations and settlement processes.
- Improved infrastructure for weather and yield data will enable better decision-making and risk assessment.
This decision reinforces the government’s commitment to enhancing farmer welfare and agricultural resilience through sustainable insurance mechanisms.
