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“The department of agriculture is regularly persuading the non-implementing States to participate in the scheme by writing at the highest levels, in one to one meetings as well as national review conferences”, according to an agriculture ministry statement in parliament.
Currently crop insurance is being implemented across 23 states and union territories.
How PMFBY Works
Under PMFBY aims at providing comprehensive risk coverage from pre-sowing to post-harvest stages of crops, farmers pay a fixed premium of just 1.5% of the sum insured for rabi crops and 2% for kharif crops, while it is 5% for cash crops.
The balance premium is equally shared between the Centre and states with the exception of north-eastern states where the premium is split in a 9:1 ratio between the Centre and states.
In terms of premium payment, the Centre, states and farmers have had a share of 40%, 48% and 12% respectively since the launch of the scheme.
Meanwhile, the number of farmers enrolled has increased from 3.17 crore in 2022-23 to 4.19 crore in 2024-25, an increase of 32%.
“The number of farmers enrolled in 2024-25 under the scheme is at its highest since inception of the scheme,” according to the note.
Payouts, Reforms, and Coverage
According to the agriculture ministry, over Rs 1.82 lakh crore has been paid to farmers under PMFBY since its launch in 2016 as compensation which was five times of the total premiums of Rs 35,864 crore paid by them under the scheme.
“For every Rs 100 of premium paid by the farmers, they have received nearly Rs 500 as claims,” according to an official note.
To reduce delays in claim settlement, the ministry has made it mandatory for states to open escrow accounts for deposit of their premium share in advance from the current kharif season (2025-26).
The centre has delinked its share of premium subsidy payment from that of the state so that farmers can get proportionate claims fast.
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Over 100 crops notified the crop insurance covers incidents including inundation, landslide, cyclone, hailstorm, drought and post-harvest losses.
Currently fourteen out of the 20 empanelled insurance companies, both in the public and private sector are implementing the scheme.
The centre has incurred Rs 15,864 crore under PMFBY as per the revised estimate of FY25.