🔆 Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY): Affordable Crop Insurance for Every Farmer
📍 Why in News?
🟢 A PIB Backgrounder highlighted PMFBY’s role in strengthening farmer resilience, income security and climate-resilient agriculture.
🟢 The Union Budget 2026–27 has allocated ₹12,200 crore for the scheme.
📍 About PMFBY
🟢 Launched on 18 February 2016; implemented from Kharif 2016.
🟢 Provides comprehensive insurance coverage against crop losses from pre-sowing to specified post-harvest stages.
🟢 Covers both loanee and non-loanee farmers; tenant farmers and sharecroppers are also eligible subject to prescribed conditions.
📍 Premium Structure
🟢 Kharif foodgrains & oilseeds: Maximum farmer premium of 2%.
🟢 Rabi foodgrains & oilseeds:1.5%.
🟢 Commercial & horticultural crops:5%.
🟢 Remaining premium is subsidised by the Centre and States in a 50:50 ratio; for North-Eastern and Himalayan States/UTs, the ratio is 90:10.
📍 Risks Covered
🟢 Standing crops: Drought, dry spells, floods, inundation, cyclones, hailstorms, lightning, pests and diseases.
🟢 Prevented sowing: Claims up to 25% of the sum insured in specified cases.
🟢 Post-harvest losses: Coverage for up to 14 days for crops kept in “cut-and-spread” condition.
🟢 Localised calamities: Hailstorms, landslides, inundation, cloudbursts and natural fire at the individual farm level.
📍 PMFBY at a Glance
🟢 92.46 crore+ farmer applications insured since inception.
🟢 26.33 crore+ farmer applications have received claims.
🟢 Claims exceeding ₹2.06 lakh crore paid.
🟢 Implemented in 25 States/UTs in Kharif 2026.
🟢 As of 27 August 2026, Kharif 2026 had insured 241.38 lakh farmers and covered 278.12 lakh hectares.
🟢 Since 2018, over 1.44 crore tenant and sharecropper farmers have been enrolled.
📍 Technology-Driven Crop Insurance
🟢 NCIP: Digital platform for enrolment, subsidy administration, claim calculation and direct electronic transfer.
🟢 DigiClaim: Digital monitoring and settlement of claims; over ₹55,000 crore in claims processed through the platform.
🟢 YES-TECH: Uses remote sensing and technology-based methods for crop-yield estimation.
🟢 WINDS: Uses Automatic Weather Stations and Rain Gauges for hyperlocal weather data.
🟢 CCE-Agri App: Digital capture of Crop Cutting Experiment data.
🟢 CROPIC: Uses geo-tagged crop photographs to validate crop health and support future analytics.
🟢 CLAP: Digitally records crop losses at the individual farm level.
🟢 KRPH Helpline (14447): Addressed 26.12 lakh grievances with a 99.66% resolution rate.
📍 YES-TECH & WINDS — Important for Prelims
🟢 YES-TECH was launched for paddy and wheat in Kharif 2023 and expanded to soybean in Kharif 2024.
🟢 Its weightage in yield estimation has increased from at least 30% to up to 50% in certain States.
🟢 WINDS collects weather data at Block and Gram Panchayat levels.
📍 RWBCIS: Complementary Scheme
🟢 The Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme addresses weather-related risks using weather parameters as a proxy for crop damage.
🟢 Payouts are triggered when parameters such as rainfall, temperature, humidity and wind speed cross predefined thresholds.
🟢 Particularly relevant for fruits, vegetables and plantation crops.
📍 Why PMFBY Matters
🟢 Protects farmers against climate and production risks.
🟢 Reduces vulnerability to sudden income shocks.
🟢 Enables farmers to recover losses and invest in the next cropping season.
🟢 Supports adoption of modern inputs and better farming practices.
🟢 Strengthens the transition towards climate-resilient agriculture and national food security.
📌 Key State Developments
🟢 West Bengal rejoined PMFBY from Kharif 2026.
🟢 Bihar will implement the scheme from Rabi 2026–27.
🟢 Andhra Pradesh rejoined from Kharif 2022 and Jharkhand from Kharif 2024.
🎯 Mains Application
PMFBY represents a shift from post-disaster relief towards proactive agricultural risk management, but its long-term success will depend on accurate yield assessment, timely claim settlement and deeper last-mile inclusion.
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1August 29, 2026 2.8K 33
