The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to rejoin the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) following talks between Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar and state Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Tomar appreciated this step of the state government. With this important decision, crops of more than 40 lakh farmers of the state will get insurance cover in the event of a natural calamity.
Tomar said the Centre has made PMFBY simple and convenient as per the suggestions of the states. It was working continuously with the states to improve the condition of farmers and make them prosperous and transform agriculture into advanced farming.
In the meeting, Reddy thanked the Centre for re-implementing PMFBY in the state. Reddy said that after discussion with the Centre, the state government has decided to provide the farmers of the state with crop insurance cover under the PMFBY.
Andhra Pradesh has decided to implement the PMFBY from the Kharif-2022 season. The Centre was committed to empowering the farmers across the country, including Andhra Pradesh, by securing their income-livelihood.
Keeping in view the suggestions of Andhra Pradesh and other states, the Centre 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 the sum insured to the states as per the option and prevailing risk profile and a provision of three per cent was made for administrative expenses.
On 7 July, a team headed by Union Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja also gave a presentation to the chief minister regarding the scheme.