Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is the national crop insurance scheme of the Government of India, launched on 18 February 2016 by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. It replaced two earlier programmes — the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and the Modified NAIS (MNAIS) — and provides yield-based and weather-based insurance cover for notified crops in notified areas.

Overview

PMFBY covers prevented sowing, standing-crop losses, post-harvest losses on cut-and-spread produce and localised calamities such as hailstorm and inundation. Sum insured is normally the scale of finance for the notified crop, and claims are settled on the basis of area yield estimates (Crop Cutting Experiments) or notified weather parameters.

Eligibility

The scheme is open to all farmers — landholders, tenants and sharecroppers — growing notified crops in notified areas. Loanee farmers using crop loans on KCC (see Kisan Credit Card Kcc) were earlier enrolled by default; the 2020 Revamped PMFBY notification made the scheme voluntary for loanee farmers and tightened claim-settlement timelines.

Benefit and structure

Farmer's premium share is statutorily capped:

2% of sum insured for kharif food and oilseed crops
1.5% of sum insured for rabi food and oilseed crops
5% of sum insured for commercial and horticultural crops

The balance of the actuarial premium is shared equally by the Centre and the state government. Claims are paid through DBT into farmer bank accounts.

Implementation

Empanelled general insurance companies bid for state cluster portfolios and pay claims under the scheme's operational guidelines. The pmfby.gov.in portal maintains farmer applications, premium remittance, area-yield data and claim status. The scheme runs alongside the broader price-support framework (see Msp Minimum Support Price) and state-level instruments such as Rythu Bima.

References

PMFBY portal. pmfby.gov.in.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana — overview. Wikipedia.