BHUBANESWAR: With the cut-off date for enrolment of farmers under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) extended till August 5, the state government on Wednesday directed the field staff of the Agriculture and Cooperation departments to cover another five lakh non-loanee farmers under the crop insurance scheme.
A review of the progress of farmers’ enrolment under PMFBY with district collectors and district-level officials of the Cooperation and Agriculture department virtually revealed over 13 lakh farmers have registered their names under the scheme so far. Appreciating the efforts of the two departments, Jena advised the district collectors to ensure more farmers and more crop areas are covered under the scheme.
Expressing his displeasure over the enrolment of a negligible number of non-loanee farmers by commercial banks, principal secretary Agriculture and Cooperation Arabinda Padhee said there is scope for increasing the enrolment target to 25 lakhs. He said the state government has laid emphasis on covering more small and marginal farmers and those who have not availed of crop loans under the insurance scheme so that they can get the benefits in case of crop damage.
Padhee expressed confidence the target of enrolment of 25 lakh farmers could be easily achieved in view of the decision of the state government to bear farmers’ share of premium. Cooperative banks were given the target to enrol one lakh non-loanee farmers by the cut-off date (CoD) while other commercial banks were also given a similar target. Common Service Centres were given the target to enrol four lakh non-loanee farmers within the extended CoD.
The Ministry of Agriculture had extended the CoD for enrolment till August 5 following a request from the state government. Director, of Agriculture & Food Production, Prem Chandra Choudhary, Director, Horticulture, Rohit Kumar Lenka, registrar, Cooperative Societies, Uddhab Chandra Majhi among others attended the meeting.