NEW DELHI: Industry body Ficci today asked the government to extend the Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme to the entire country for protecting farmers from vagaries of the weather.
WBCIS, a pilot project, intends to provide insurance protection to farmers against adverse weather conditions such as deficit and excess rainfall. It is being implemented in about 10 states, including Punjab and Haryana.
"In a bid to indemnify farmers from the vagaries of the weather and give them comprehensive protection against weather-induced crop losses, WBCIS will be extended to all states," it said.
Besides this, farmers should be allowed to choose between either the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme or WBCIS, Ficci said.
"Even loanee farmers must have the choice of taking WBCIS instead of the mandatory option of NAIS. This would result in higher participation of farmers in crop insurance," the chamber said.
NAIS offers protection against crop losses on account of national calamities such as drought and floods. It is being implemented by 25 states and two union territories.
Ficci said the practice of capping the coverage, which has been practised by various states while implementing WBCIS, is counter-productive and needs to be reviewed.
It also suggested that the Centre and insurance companies work with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to enable timely settlement of all claims to farmers.
At present, it takes about one to two months for any state-level IMD to provide certified data from a particular weather station.
About 60 per cent of India's population is dependent on agriculture.
WBCIS, a pilot project, intends to provide insurance protection to farmers against adverse weather conditions such as deficit and excess rainfall. It is being implemented in about 10 states, including Punjab and Haryana.
"In a bid to indemnify farmers from the vagaries of the weather and give them comprehensive protection against weather-induced crop losses, WBCIS will be extended to all states," it said.
Besides this, farmers should be allowed to choose between either the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme or WBCIS, Ficci said.
"Even loanee farmers must have the choice of taking WBCIS instead of the mandatory option of NAIS. This would result in higher participation of farmers in crop insurance," the chamber said.
NAIS offers protection against crop losses on account of national calamities such as drought and floods. It is being implemented by 25 states and two union territories.
Ficci said the practice of capping the coverage, which has been practised by various states while implementing WBCIS, is counter-productive and needs to be reviewed.
It also suggested that the Centre and insurance companies work with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to enable timely settlement of all claims to farmers.
At present, it takes about one to two months for any state-level IMD to provide certified data from a particular weather station.
About 60 per cent of India's population is dependent on agriculture.
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