1 sqm, Rs 1,000 cover: As farmers insure tiny plots, govt baffled

One reason could be due to misinformation about PMFBY scheme wherein farmers are under the impression that they will get Rs 1,000 per application in case of drought or crop loss.

The trend of farmers insuring extremely small fragments of their land - as small as 0.0001 hectares; ie. 1 square metre, has stumped the agriculture department.

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The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the Indian government’s flagship crop insurance scheme, has always attracted farmers in Maharashtra. However, this kharif season, the trend of farmers insuring extremely small fragments of land — as small as 0.0001 hectares ie 1 sqm — has stumped the state agriculture department. Of the 1.699 crore applications it has received, 1.27 lakh applications are for insurance covers as low as Rs 1,000 or below, which translates into farmers insuring extremely small fragments of their land.

This trend, which started last season, has become more pronounced now. While only 0.75 per cent of the applications are of this nature, still officials said the trend is noticeable. Of the 2.77 lakh applications received from farmers to insure their crops for the kharif season in 2023 under the PMFBY in Satara district, 18,505 applications (6.67 per cent) are from farmers whose cover is just Rs 1,000. In Sindhudurg, of the 17,405 applications received, 4,509 (26.45 per cent) are for cover as low as Rs 1,000. The extremely low insurance cover translates into farmers insuring as low as 1 sqm of land under the scheme.

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Such insurance applications are uniformly distributed across the state. Most districts have reported this phenomenon. The state government has so far no clear answers for the trend. “One reason could be attributed to Citizen Facility Centre (CFC) owners who charge Rs 40 per application filed. To increase their income they might have gone about insuring fragments of the whole land instead of the entire land parcel. Another could be misinformation about the scheme wherein farmers are under the impression that they would get Rs 1,000 per application in case of drought or crop loss. Thus they fragmented their land and insured it instead of the whole parcel,” said an official.

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In some cases, the land in question might have been near highways and would be developed for commercial purposes. “Only a small fragment is insured so as to keep the land for agriculture. But the trend needs to be studied in detail,” the official said.

Kharif 2023 would be a landmark season in the state as Maharashtra saw highest-ever registration under the PMFBY scheme. The spectre of drought and the state government’s decision to allow farmers to insure their land by paying just Rs 1 has seen enrollment jump this season. True to prognosis the monsoon played truant and farmers reported distressed harvest in crops like soyabean and cotton. In fact the state government had directed insurance agencies to pay farmers mid-season adversity amount. Till date Rs 1,036.79 crore worth of insured amount has been distributed with Rs 1,019.11 crore more to be distributed.

Parthasarathi Biswas

Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More

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