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Weather-based insurance to help farmers tackle crop loss
In a bid to help farmers deal with crop damage caused by freak weathers, the state government is introducing a weather-based crop insurance scheme in three districts. The scheme, which has been initiated by the Union Ministry of Agriculture in 20 states, will help farmers deal with crop damage caused by excessive or deficient rainfall or changes in temperature.
The state government has tied up with three insurance companies — recommended by the Union ministry — for the pilot scheme. Orders in this regard have been issued by UP Principal Secretary (agriculture) Kapil Dev.
The districts which have been chosen for the pilot scheme are Baghpat in western UP, Aurraiyya in central UP and Jaunpur in eastern UP. The insurance firms which have been assigned these districts include the Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd (Aurraiyya), ICICI Lombard (Jaunpur) and IFFCO-TOKIO (Baghpat).
The pilot scheme will be implemented from this Kharif season and will be applicable in case of major cereals, millets, pulses, oilseeds and horticultural crops too. In the next Rabi season, the scheme will cover the mango crop too. Experts said with freak weathers hitting the agriculture sector badly, the scheme will prove to be a boon for farmers. Vinod Kumar Tiwari of Uttar Pradesh Council For Agriculture Research (UPCAR) said: “In the last two years, the impact of climate change is quite evident on UP farmers. Whether it is Rabi or Kharif crop, the farmers have suffered damages due to changing weather conditions. This scheme will provide the farmers protection from this.”
Source: www.indianexpress.com