93% of Landless Farmers In Odisha Opted PM Fasal Bima Yojana

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has been on the crest of a wave in Odisha. The State broke into the top league in Kharif 2020, when it finished 2nd in the country in terms of the insured cultivable area in the country. A huge 47.2 lakh of around 51 lakh farmers in the State have taken up the crop insurance scheme.

In his address to the nation on 75th I-Day today, PM Narendra Modi spoke about how the crop insurance scheme is driving home the policy vision of "Chhote Kisan Bane Desh Ki Shaan" - (Making marginal/small farmers the pride of the nation).

Crop Insurance - Odisha's Cover Point

Consider the Odisha scorecard. Only in 2018, a mere 1 in every 10 landless farmers in the State could register themselves under the Central government's crop insurance scheme. Two years down the line, a whopping 9 in every 10 landless farmers in the State had registered under the scheme to cover their crop losses due to uneven disasters (natural + pest).

As per the data available with the Union Ministry of Agriculture, in the year 2018-19, the total landless farmers registered under the crop insurance scheme in the State stood at around 1.729 lakh when as per Odisha government records the State had over 7 lakh landless farmers (share-cropper and tenant farmers).

However, the count had posted a sharp jump in the year 2019-20. Now, a massive of over 6.48 lakh landless farmers in the State had registered under the crop insurance scheme in the State - which is nearly 93 per cent of the total landless farmers in the State.

PMFBY's Growing Success

After the launch of the scheme in February 2016, the total cultivable area insured in Odisha during the Kharif 2016 was a mere 17.7 lakh hectares. Cut to Kharif 2020, the insured area in hectares stood at a massive 86.8 lakh hectare.

Moreover, data on claim rates puts the glare on the benefits reaped by State's landless farmers. As per the data, during Kharif 2017, the claim ratio in Odisha was 221.6 per cent against the national average of 89.1 per cent.

• The claim ratio in Rabi 2017-18 in Odisha was even higher at 225.1 per cent, despite a normal monsoon year.
• In Rabi 2018-19, the claim ratio (premium paid to the demand of claims) in Odisha shot up to a high of 360.5 per cent.
• The popularity of the scheme in the State is ascertained from the high registration by non-loanee farmers. As per the scheme, opting for the scheme is voluntary for non-loanee farmers.
• In Odisha, the number of non-loanee farmers who opted for PMFBY in 2017-18 was a mere 1.6 lakh.
• The number in 2019-20 grew to a massive 16.72 lakh - a growth of over 943 per cent between 2017-20.

Blips In Odisha farm Sector

Notwithstanding the second-highest area insured in the country in Kharif 2020, the premium paid by farmers and the average share of farmers per hectare in Odisha figured among the lowest in the country.

In contrast, Haryana, which figured among the lowest area insured in the country, is listed among the highest premium amount paid and the average share of farmers per hectare nationally.

As per experts, since this crop insurance scheme is a 'yield protection model, farmers in the states where the yield of crops are high have to pay higher premium vis-a-vis states with low crop yield rate.

(Note: In PMFBY, the farmers have to pay a uniform premium of two per cent of the value for all Kharif and Oilseeds crops.)

In Odisha, the crops covered under the crop insurance scheme are Cotton (kapas), Ginger, Groundnut (peanut/mungphalli), Maize (makka), Paddy (dhan), Pigeon Pea (red Gram/arhar/tur) and Turmeric.

In Haryana, the crops covered are Cotton (kapas), Maize (makka), Paddy (1), Paddy
(dhan), Pearl Millet (bajra/bulrush Millet/spiked Millet).

Sample the premium amount paid by farmers in both states in Kharif 2020.

• Haryana ---- Rs 254 crore
• Odisha ------ Rs 139.5 crore.

This difference in premium paid shows a lower yield rate in Odisha. This is a blip because lower yield rate leads to lower per capita income of farmers in the State. Time for speedier implementation of 'Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India'.