MANGALURU: Nearly half of the crop insurance claims raised from Karnataka under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) during the past five years came from six districts, reveal data tabled in the Lok Sabha.
The districts that account for the highest crop insurance claims are Vijayapura, Haveri, Gadag, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad and Chitradurga, and the total claim amount accounts to more than Rs 5,900 crore during the 2020-25 period, while the total claim reported during the period is Rs 11,251.8 crore.
Vijayapura alone has raised claims for Rs 1,328.36 crore, followed by Haveri at Rs 1,272.35 crore and Gadag Rs 1,122.48 crore, reflecting the high vulnerability of these agrarian belts to weather shocks and yield losses. In contrast, several other districts have reported very low crop insurance claims, indicating either lower exposure to weather-related crop losses or limited coverage. Bengaluru Urban recorded the lowest claims at Rs 1.12 crore, followed by Mysuru at Rs 7.11 crore, Kodagu at Rs 10.03 crore and Bengaluru Rural at Rs 10.96 crore.
While the overall settlement rate in Karnataka remains high, the concentration of claims in a few districts has also meant that delays, when they occur, affect farmers in these regions. As of December 31, 2025, pending claims in Karnataka stood at Rs 69.02 crore, with districts such as Bagalkot and Raichur accounting for a significant share of the outstanding amount.
The agriculture ministry has attributed delays in the settlement of claims primarily to structural and administrative factors rather than denial. These include delays by the state government machinery in releasing their share of the premium subsidy, errors or late submission of insurance proposals by banks, discrepancies in yield data arising from crop cutting experiments and disputes between state authorities and insurance companies over assessed losses.