AP decides to rejoin Fasal Bima Yojana in current kharif season after tweaks

Andhra Pradesh has decided to rejoin the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from the ongoing kharif season, the Union Agriculture Ministry said.

The decision to rejoin the scheme was taken after virtual talks between Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and state’s Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

“Andhra Pradesh has decided to implement the PMFBY from kharif-2022 season,” an official statement said.

Tomar said with this important decision, crops of more than 40 lakh farmers of the state will get insurance cover in case of natural calamity.

PMFBY and Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) were implemented in Andhra Pradesh from kharif-2016 to kharif-2019.

Tomar said the Centre has made PMFBY simple and convenient as per the suggestions of states. It is working continuously with states to improve the condition of farmers and transform agriculture into advanced farming.

In the meeting, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister thanked the Centre for reimplementing PMFBY in the state.

On July 7, a team headed by Union Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja had given a presentation to the chief minister regarding the scheme.

Keeping in view the suggestions of Andhra Pradesh and other states, the Centre had revamped the scheme in February 2020 with new features, such as voluntary enrolment for all farmers, wider use of technology in yield estimation, risk coverage to choose for payment of sum insured to states as per the option and prevailing risk profile.