Pulses Crop Insurance Premium Charges will be 2%

For providing a safety net to growers of pulses, which could also help boost production, the Centre's proposed new crop insurance policy so that premium on pulses at a moderate two percent of the sum insured.

According to the broad contours of the new crop insurance scheme, which has been prepared and is now awaiting Cabinet nod, the premium on horticulture crops has been fixed at 5-6 percent of the sum insured or on actuarial basis, whichever is lower, while that on non-horticulture crops has been fixed at 2-3 percent.

Officials added that the difference between the actual premium charged by the insurance company and what the farmer pays will be subsided by the Centre.

This means that if a farmer gets his pulses crop insured for Rs 200,000, his annually premium would be somewhere around Rs 4,000 or even lower. At present, the average crop insurance premium on pulses, which a farmer has to pay ranges between 10-12 per cent of the sum insured, which acts a big deterrent. The scheme would be a combination of weather-based and yield-based insurance for crops.

The government has been working on a new crop insurance scheme for a long time, but there has been some differences over the premium to be charged from the farmers and its impact on the Centre's subsidy.

According to rules, farmers' insurance claims have to settle within 45 days of the risk assessment. However, often, claims are not attended even after six months. This was one of the factors behind farmers' not opting for crop insurance.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/