Govt taps KVKs to create awareness on crop insurance scheme

New Delhi: The Centre is making a concerted push to create awareness among farmers about the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojan (PMFBY) at 583 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).

So far, such awareness programmes have been organised at 90 locations such as Lucknow with participation of MPs and central ministers, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, said an official statement issued by the agriculture ministry.

In these programmes, the details about PMFBY are being provided to farmers, question-answer sessions held and a comprehensive CD containing a film about the scheme is being shown to farmers, it said.

That apart, farmers are also informed about other agricultural schemes. In the farmer-scientist interface, the knowledge and advisory on various crops, horticulture, livestock and poultry-related questions are also being addressed by scientists, it added.

KVKs impart vocational training to practising farmers and other individuals involved in field-level agricultural activity.

To protect farmers from vagaries of monsoon, the central government came out with the new crop insurance scheme, which has come into force from April 1 for kharif crops.

Under the scheme, farmer premium has been kept lower between 1.5-2 percent for foodgrains and oilseeds crops and up to 5 percent for horticultural and cotton crops.

The government is targeting increasing the insurance coverage to 50 percent of the total crop area of 194.40 million hectares from the existing level of about 25-27 percent crop area. The expenditure is expected to be around Rs 9,500 crore.

In PMFBY, there will not be a cap on the premium and reduction of the sum insured. Besides, 25 percent of the likely claim will be settled directly on farmers' accounts and there will be one insurance company for the entire state as well as farm level assessment of loss for localised risks and post-harvest losses.