Weather insurance: HDFC ERGO General Insurance to give weather insurance to Maharashtra farmers

HDFC ERGO General Insurance has been allowed by the Maharashtra government to implement Pilot Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) for Loanee and Non Loanee farmers for Rabi 2012-13.

The crops to be covered are Grapes in Sangli, Satara and Beed districts, Pomegranate in Buldhana, Aurangabad, Satara, Beed and Sangli districts, Banana in Akola, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Satara, Kolhapur, Parbhani , Beed and Sangli, Orange in Akola and Buldhana, Sweet Lime in Buldhana, Aurangabad, Parbhani and Beed, Guava in Buldhana and Aurangabad and Cashew in Kohlapur.

Non-Loanee farmers are those who have not taken any loan from financial institutions. Those who had taken such loans are automatically insured by state-run Agriculture Insurance Company of India. .

Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme offers insurance cover against losses of farmers due to aberrant weather conditions during the crop cycle. Claim amounts will be settled on the basis of data taken from reference weather stations mentioned in the scheme and managed by independent third party organization.

While Crop Insurance specifically indemnifies the cultivator against shortfall in crop yield, Weather based Crop Insurance is based on the fact that weather conditions affect crop production even when a cultivator has taken all the care to ensure good harvest. Weather based Crop Insurance Weather is aimed at mitigating the hardship of the insured farmers against the likelihood of financial loss on account of anticipated crop loss resulting from incidence of adverse conditions of weather parameters like rainfall, drought frost and humidity.

HDFC ERGO has insured more than 13 lakh farmers across 8 states.