Agriculture insurance OR Crop insurance

We all know that the Indian farming industry is a very volatile and very risk-based industry. At the same time, farmers are not aware of the importance of Agriculture insurance or crop insurance in India.

We have heard and read in news or watched on tv, that so many farmers commit suicide due to the losses incurred because of agriculture or farming.

The risks that agriculture in India is facing vary, starting from environmental issues like no rain or heavy rains, adulterated seeds, Pests, etc.

Whatever the risk is, the damage is done to the crop and the affected person will be the farmer.

So, it is very important to buy agriculture insurance in India to cover all these risks.

In this blog, I am trying to focus on different agriculture insurance or crop insurances that are available in India.

Since India is an agriculture-based economy, the government also focuses on the farmer’s wellbeing. This includes state and central governments.

So, agriculture insurance in India is provided by the public sector (government schemes) and the private sector.

Risks of the Indian agriculture industry

Crop loss due to Floods

The monsoon season India generally starts from June and lasts till September. During the June period, farmers start planting or sowing for the crops. And by the end of August, the crops will be ready for harvest.

But during this season only there is a high risk of floods, sometimes the floods start in June itself so that the farmers cannot start their crops in a timely manner, and they will lose precious time. If the floods come in August or September, then it creates more damage since the farmers already spent their money and time on the crops.

Here are some stats on the loss of crops due to floods during 2019.

S.No	State	Total Agriculture Area Affected
1	Assam	2.14
2	Bihar	2.61
3	Chhattisgarh	0.018
4	Karnataka	9.35
5	Kerala	0.31
6	Madhya Pradesh	6.04
7	Maharashtra	4.17
8	Nagaland	0.02
9	Odisha	1.49
10	Punjab	1.51
11	Rajasthan	27.36
12	Tripura	0.014
13	Uttar Pradesh	8.88
14	Uttarakhand	0.003
15	West Bengal	0.08
	Total	63.995

Crop Loss due to No rains or Draught

Since the world is facing the Global warming problem, it is affecting the environment in all the countries and India is not an exception to this problem.

The rainfall rate is continuously decreasing year by year in India.

States like Rajasthan are facing severe problems due to drought, they are facing drinking water issues. So, one can imagine how the crops can be survived in these states. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/rajasthan-declares-1-388-villages-in-4-districts-drought-affected-1618063-2019-11-12

Crop Loss Due to Fake Seeds

Indian farmers facing another major issue that is fake seeds. When a farmer goes to a seed seller, the seller advises the farmer to buy some fake seeds as the seller gets huge margins on those brands. But at this point, no one guarantees the farmer that the seeds are original and all or maximum percent of seeds will be germinated successfully.

But once the seeds are spread across the fields only 10 to 20% of the seeds get germinated remaining will be dead. This is a huge loss for a farmer as the seed sowing time will be gone by then. So, the farmer cannot plant for that season.

This is a big loss in terms of money, time and efforts.

Crop Loss Due to adulterated Pesticides

This is another factor that is contributing to losses of the Indian agriculture industry.

Fertilizers and pesticides are very important for crops to grow healthy and give good yields. That is why the farmers willing to spend money on these to protect their crops from deceases and bugs.

But when these fertilizers are adulterated then the crops do not give good yields and the farmers end up with huge losses.

Unfortunately, not all these risks are covered under agriculture insurance. Especially Fake seeds and pesticides.

List of companies providing Crop Insurance:

• Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd.
• Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co. Ltd.
• Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd
• IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance Co. Ltd
• HDFC ERGO General Insurance Co. Ltd.
• ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd
• Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited
• Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd
• Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Limited
• SBI

What is Covered in Agriculture insurance or crop insurance?

The crops are covered for the loss incurred due to natural calamities like Floods, Drought, earthquake, and fire.

Also, insurance can be taken against the risks of agriculture machinery like pump sets, tractors, etc.

Some companies cover life for the farmer. Along with the crop insurance farmers need to consider taking life insurance policies to save their families. It is very important to have insurance cover.

And crop insurance also covers the minimum market price. For example, the price of cotton is 100 per ton at the time of buying insurance and when it took to market if it falls to 80 rs then the remaining 20 will be covered by the insurance company.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana – PMFBY

https://pmfby.gov.in/

The Indian government is also providing insurance cover for crops to help farmers and encourage farming. The PMFBY aims to cover different risks that a farmer can face for their crops.

PMFBY covers the loss incurred due to all-natural calamities.

It also covers the post-harvest loss i.e. within two weeks of harvesting a crop (only crops which are required to dry before moving to market) if a cyclone or flood hits the harvested crop and destroys the crop then PMFBY scheme will pay the money to the farmer.

Eligibility for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana – PMFBY

All farmers who take crop loans are eligible for this scheme. They automatically covered under this scheme by filling the required forms at the bank.

This is an optional scheme for the farmers who do not avail of any crop loans.

Here is an example of premium calculated for 3 hectors of Maize crop. The farmer needs to pay 3750Rs and the Government will pay 43125Rs as premium. Then the crop will be covered for 187500Rs.

Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS)

This scheme is intended to cover the losses incurred to crops due to extreme weather conditions such as high temperature, excess rainfall, short rainfall, etc.

These conditions affect the production/yield of a crop.

Applying for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

Farmers can directly apply for PMFBY by going online https://pmfby.gov.in/farmerRegistrationForm.

1. Register your details and then enter all the details related to the crop etc.

2. Calculate the premium using the Insurance premium calculator provided on that site.

3. Pay the premium and submit the application

4. Farmers can track their application status using the Application status feature available on the site.

5. In case of crop loss here are the contact numbers and information to report the crop loss.

Extract from Guidelines in PMFBY

1. The Maximum Premium payable by the farmers will be 2% for all Kharif Food & Oilseeds crops, 1.5% for Rabi Food & Oilseeds crops and 5% for Annual Commercial/Horticultural Crops.

 2. The scheme is compulsory for loanee farmers obtaining Crop Loan /KCC account for notified crops. However, voluntary for Other/non-loanee farmers who have an insurable interest in the insured crop(s).

Insurance Company Name	Toll Free Number	Headquater Email	Headquater Address
AGRICULTURE INSURANCE COMPANY	1800116515	fasalbima@aicofindia.com	Office Block-1, 5th Floor, Plate-B & C, East Kidwai Nagar, Ring Road, New Delhi-110023
BAJAJ ALLIANZ GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD	18002095959	bagichelp@bajajallianz.co.in	Bajaj Allianz House, Airport Road, Yerawada, Pune 411 006
BHARTI AXA GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY LTD.	18001037712	customer.service@bharti-axagi.co.in	7th floor, Merchantile House, K.G.Marg, New Delhi - 110 001.
CHOLAMANDALAM MS GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED	18002005544	customercare@cholams.murugappa.com	2nd Floor, "Dare House", No.2, NSC Bose Road,Chennai - 600001, India. Phone: 044-3044 5400
FUTURE GENERALI INDIA INSURANCE CO. LTD.	18002664141	fgcare@futuregenerali.in	Indiabulls Finance Centre, 6th Floor, Tower 3, Senapati Bapat Marg, Elphinstone West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400013
HDFC ERGO GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.	18002660700	grievance@hdfcergo.com	D-301, 3rd Floor, Eastern Business District (Magnet Mall), LBS Marg, Bhandup (West). MUMBAI - 400078 State : Maharastra , City : MUMBAI, Pin Code : 400078
ICICI LOMBARD GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.	18002669725	customersupport@icicilombard.com	ICICI Lombard House414, P.Balu Marg,Off Veer Sawarkar Marg,near Siddhivinayak Temple, Prabhadevi,Mumbai-400025.
IFFCO TOKIO GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.	1800-103-5490	supportagri@iffcotokio.co.in	IFFCO Tower ,Plot No. 3 , Sector 29 , Gurgaon -122001,Haryana(India)
NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED	18002007710	customer.relations@nic.co.in	National Insurance Co. Ltd.3 , Middleton Street , Kolkata -700071,West Bengal
NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY	18002091415	customercare.ho@newindia.co.in	87, MG Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400001
ORIENTAL INSURANCE	1800118485	renukaahluwalia@orientalinsurance.co.in	The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd.Crop Cell, Head Office, New Delhi
RELIANCE GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.	18001024088	rgicl.services@relianceada.com	Reliance Centre , South Wing , 4th floor,Off Western Express Highway, Santacruz (East), Mumbai - 400055
ROYAL SUNDARAM GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LIMITED	18005689999	crop.services@royalsundaram.in	Vishranthi Melaram Towers, No. 2/319, Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR), Karapakkam, Chennai - 600097
SBI GENERAL INSURANCE	18001232310	crop.help@sbigeneral.in	101,201,301, Natraj. Junction of Western express highway & Andheri - Kurla road. Andheri East Mumbai - 400069
SHRIRAM GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.	180030030000/18001033009	chd@shriramgi.com	E-8, Epip, Riico Industrial area, sitapura Jaipur (Rajasthan) 302022
TATA AIG GENERAL INSURANCE CO. LTD.	18002093536	customersupport@tataaig.com	Peninsula Business Park, Tower-A, 15th Floor, Ganpat Rao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra-400013,India.
UNITED INDIA INSURANCE CO.	180042533333	customercare@uiic.co.in	Customer care department, no.24, whites road, Chennai-600014
UNIVERSAL SOMPO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY	18002005142	contactus@universalsompo.com	Unit No 401, 4th Floor, Sangam Complex,127, Andheri – Kurla Road, Andheri (E),Mumbai-400059.