Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY):
To ensure timely settlements of claims under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has approved the proposal of the department of agriculture for flying drones over 100 districts growing rice and wheat.
- This is the first remote sensing technology based largest pilot study in the country so far, conducted for crop yield estimation.
About PMFBY:
- Launched in 2016.
- Merged schemes include National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS).
- It aims to reduce the premium burden on farmers and ensure early settlement of crop assurance claim for the full insured sum.
- The Scheme covers all Food & Oilseeds crops and Annual Commercial/Horticultural Crops for which past yield data is available and for which requisite number of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) are being conducted under General Crop Estimation Survey (GCES).
PMFBY to PMFBY 2.0:
- It has been decided to make enrolment 100% voluntary for all farmers from 2020 Kharif.
- The Cabinet has decided to cap the Centre’s premium subsidy under these schemes for premium rates up to 30% for unirrigated areas/crops and 25% for irrigated areas/crops.
- The government has given the flexibility to states/UTs to implement PMFBY and given them the option to select any number of additional risk covers/features like prevented sowing, localized calamity, mid-season adversity, and post-harvest losses.
- In the revamped PMFBY, a provision has been incorporated wherein if states don’t release their share before March 31 for the Kharif season and September 30 for rabi, they would not be allowed to participate in the scheme in subsequent seasons.
