GUWAHATI, July 9 - Enrolment drive to cover farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) have been stepped up and the State government has directed officials to meet the target of coverage across all the districts of Assam.
The last dates for enrolment of farmers under the scheme for the year 2019-20 is July 31 for jute crop and August 31 for Sali (winter) paddy and black gram.
It is noteworthy that the government had earlier has set a target to cover at least five lakh farmers under the PMFBY this year, which includes the Kharif 2019 season and the Rabi 2019-20 season.
Official sources said that district-wise target for coverage of farmers under the scheme has been fixed.
�The target is to cover at least 21,000 farmers each in Barpeta, Dhubri, Goalpara, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon and Sonitpur districts, 16,000 farmers each in Cachar, Darrang, Dhemaji, Golaghat, Hojai, Jorhat, Kamrup (Metro), Karimganj, Kokrajhar, Sivasagar and Tinsukia districts, 13,000 farmers in Nalbari district, and 11,000 farmers each in Baksa, Bongaigaon, Biswanath, Chirang, Dibrugarh, Hailakandi, Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong, Charaideo, Majuli, South Salmara-Mankachar, Udalguri and Dima Hasao districts,� said an official.
He added that farmers will get benefit up to Rs 59,400 per hectare for winter paddy, Rs 55,300 per hectare for jute and Rs 31,100 per hectare for black gram under the scheme.
All farmers availing Seasonal Agricultural Operations (SAO) loans from financial institutions, or those who are termed as loanee farmers, for the notified crops would be covered compulsorily.
Coverage is also available to non-loanee farmers on optional basis. Farmers� share of premium for up to one hectare per farmer will be borne by the State government.
A number of stages of the crop and risks leading to crop loss are covered under the scheme.
They include any prevented sowing or planting risk due to deficit rainfall or adverse seasonal conditions; comprehensive risk insurance to cover yield losses due to non-preventable risks like drought, dry spells, flood, inundation, pests and diseases, landslides, natural fire and lightening, hailstorm and cyclone, among others; post-harvest losses up to a maximum period of two weeks from harvesting; localized calamities; and add-on coverage for crop loss due to attack by wild animals.
�However, losses arising out of factors like war, malicious damage and other preventable risks are excluded,� said the official.
The District Level Monitoring Committees (DLMC), headed by the respective Deputy Commissioner, have been constituted to monitor implementation of the scheme by providing fortnightly crop condition reports and periodical reports on seasonal weather conditions, loans disbursed and the extent of area cultivated. The DLMCs will also monitor conduct of crop-cutting experiments in the respective districts.
A total of eight clusters comprising various districts have been formed for implementation of the PMFBY.
While the Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd (AIC) will be the implementing agency in six of the clusters, the scheme will be looked after in the other two clusters by the HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd.
In Cluster one (Kamrup, Kokrajhar, Goalpara and Dima Hasao), Cluster two (Jorhat, Majuli, Golaghat, Nalbari, Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong), Cluster three (Barpeta, Karimganj, Sivasagar and Charaideo), Cluster four (Bongaigaon, Sonitpur, Biswanath and Dhemaji), Cluster five (Dhubri, South Salmara-Mankachar, Darrang and Hailakandi) and Cluster seven (Nagaon, Hojai, Chirang and Dibrugarh), the AIC will be the implementing agency.
HDFC ERGO will implement PMFBY in Cluster six (Udalguri, Tinsukia, Lakhimpur and Cachar) and Cluster eight (Kamrup Metro, Morigaon and Baksa).
The State government has sanctioned Rs 25 crore as waiver off of farmers� share premium. The scheme is available to all farmers growing the notified crops in the notified areas, including sharecropper and tenant farmers.
