Training on farm insurance scheme for agents begins

He said the new scheme launched by prime minister AB Vajpayee was operational in all the states from the current rabi crop season and would help protect farmers against any crop/yield damages and losses due to natural calamities.

The better insurance cover is also expected to encourage farmers to adopt progressive farming practices and technological upgradation in farming, he added.

Barua said the states would notify the districts where the new crop insurance scheme would be taken up right from the beginning. It would be progressively extended to all the districts once adequate number of supervisory personnel are trained.

The training programme launched today is devised by the National Council for Cooperative Training (NCCT), an organ of the NCUI which is the national level apex body of state cooperative societies. Other regional cooperative training institutions are also roped in the scheme to help generate a good number of trainers for organising village level training programme.

Barua said adequate number of trained personnel was crucial for the rapid extension of the new insurance scheme to all the districts in the country. Since the new scheme offered wider insurance security to farmers, it demanded a greater network of supervisory staff with intensive involvement.

The new scheme provides coverage to all farmers, including sharecroppers and tenants. The earlier scheme provided coverage to only those farmers who had taken a bank loan.

The coverage under the the NAIS is given to all food crops,oilseeds and cotton. This includes potatoes and sugarcane also. Horticultural crops would be brought into the ambit of the scheme once the states are ready with necessary crop data collection.