BHUBANESWAR: With the state government bearing the premium cost, farmers’ enrolment under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has doubled as compared to last year. In the 2022 kharif season, 11,65,131 farmers of the state had enrolled under the Central government-sponsored crop insurance scheme. The number of farmers enrolled this year under the scheme has already crossed 23.50 lakh.
“The pro-farmer decisions especially the transformative initiative of making crop insurance free for small and marginal farmers have resulted in a substantial increase in enrolment in the state. The farmers have accepted the initiative of the government and participated in the scheme enthusiastically,” said Cooperation Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak.
Out of 50 lakh agricultural households in the state, only 10-11 lakh farmers usually enrolled under the scheme and the area coverage was also not encouraging. Around 10 lakh hectares of crop areas out of 45 lakh hectares of cultivated land were being insured till last year, Nayak said.
In order to increase the coverage of farmers and cultivated areas under the insurance scheme, the state government decided to bear the cost of the farmers’ share of premium out of its own resources to ensure small and marginal farmers are not deprived of the benefits of the scheme.