NEW DELHI: The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) launched during the 2016 kharif season to help farmers insure their crops against natural calamities has provided coverage to 366.64 lakh farmers (26.50%), the agriculture ministry has said.
The ministry expects the scheme to exceed the target of 30% coverage for both kharif and rabi seasons in 2016-17.
The scheme covers 388.62 lakh hectare with sum insured of Rs 1, 41,339 crore. The scheme was recast as a new scheme by the government since two existing insurance schemes were not meeting the full requirements of farmers for insurance coverage, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The performance this season has improved by 18.50% in terms of farmers coverage, 15% in terms of area coverage and 104% in terms of sum insured in comparison to Kharif 2015, which happened to be one of the worst drought affected seasons when the number of farmers covered was 309 lakh (22.33%), total area coverage was 339 lakh hectrae and sum insured was Rs 69,307 crore,” the statement said.
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