PMFBY—An Assessment

De-risking agriculture is one of the pursued objectives of the central government amid the climate changes. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has been evolved as an instrument to combat climate change risk since 2016, after subsuming all previous crop insurance schemes.

The union budget for the financial year 2021 has allocated ₹ 15,695 crore to the PMFBY, that is, about 15% higher in budgetary allocation than the financial year 2020. To make the scheme pragmatic, the centre has just brought some changes in the operational guidelines of the PMFBY. The centre has put ceilings of 30% and 25% on premiums against the sum insured for its subsidy to be available for non-irrigated (rain-fed) and irrigated areas, respectively.