AP govt to bear farmers' crop insurance premium

As sowing of kharif crops picks up, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday announced that the government will bear the farmers' share of crop insurance premium under the PMFBY and collect a nominal amount of Rs 1 from them. A pending claim payout to the tune of Rs 596.36 crore has also been released to 5.94 lakh farmers after the current government paid the pending state's share of crop insurance premium of Rs 122.61 crore for the 2018-19 rabi season, he said in a statement.

The state government is implementing the Centre's flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), which provides for comprehensive crop insurance from pre- sowing to post-harvest period against non-preventable natural risks at extremely low premium rates.

Under the scheme, a farmer has to pay -2 per cent premium for kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for rabi crops and 5 per cent for horticulture and commercial crops. The balance amount of premium is equally shared by central and the respective state governments.

"Normally one month before the agriculture season, the premium amount is paid. But for the rabi season of 2018-19, bothfarmers and Centre had paid their share but the State had failed to pay the amount of Rs 122.61 crores, thus the farmers could not get their claims," the chief minister said.

The previous government did not pay the insurance premium for the Rabi 2018-19 season and neglected the agriculture sector, he alleged.

"To avoid such inconvenience, the government has decided to pay the premium amount on behalf of the farmer and collect a nominal Rs 1 from them and once the e-cropping is done, the premium amount will be paid to the farmers," he added.

The CM said that e-cropping will be in force at Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) and the government will pay the premium immediately. Agriculture Minister K Kannababu, Agriculture Mission Vice Chairman MVS Nagai Reddy, Special Chief Secretary Poonam Malakondiah, Agriculture Department Commissioner Arun Kumar were among others present at the video conference.