The Meghalaya government is extending support of 100 per cent to farmers for the Kharif and Rabi growing seasons in 2023-24 under the crop insurance scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
The scheme has been made applicable to all farmers of Meghalaya who grow notified crops in notified areas upto 1 acre per crop per farmer.
The vision of the state government is to take a farmer-centric approach in devising a strategy to protect them from the risks of crop failure, an official press release said today.
In order to support the farmers in stabilising their incomes against the risks of crop failure, the state government has decided to pay the insurance premiums for eligible farmers under the scheme. This will amount to around Rs 4.4 crore in expenditure, based on the target of 27,000 farmers during the Kharif season and 10,000 during the Rabi season.
PMFBY was implemented in Meghalaya since the central government began the scheme in 2016. The main objective of the scheme is to provide financial support to farmers suffering crop loss or damage due to unforeseen natural calamities and events. A farmer has to pay a 2 per cent premium for Kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for Rabi crops and a premium of 5 per cent for horticultural crops.
Farmers have to pay the premium out of sum insured and the remaining premium is shared by the central and state governments, on a 50-50 basis at the beginning but now 90-10.
The scheme is available to all farmers growing the notified crops in the notified areas, including sharecroppers and tenant farmers.
The premium support guarantee by the state government is expected to reverse the extremely low enrolment numbers the scheme has seen in Meghalaya so far.
