Lok Sabha Question No. 1440 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-29
Subject: Technology based Crop Assessment System under PMFBY
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Jai Parkash

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1440

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 29 TH  JULY, 2025

## TECHNOLOGY BASED CROP ASSESSMENT SYSTEM UNDER PMFBY

1440. SHRI JAI PARKASH:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state:

(a) whether the insurance claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for cotton crop produced during the Kharif season of 2023 in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts of  Haryana  were  assessed  through  technology  based  system  instead  of  "Crop  Cutting Experiment" (CCE) despite having no explicit permission for the same under the Operation Guidelines-2023 and YA-Tech Manual;

(b) if so, the guidelines on the basis of which such decision was taken;

(c)  whether  the  Government  has  received  any  complaints  from  the  farmers  or  farmer organisations  of  Bhiwani  and  Charkhi  Dadri  districts  against  the  said  technical  method;

(d) if so, the number of complaints received, status of the settlement thereof and details of the legal process available to the farmers to appeal against the same; and

(e) the number of farmers and the area of land in hectares against which insurance claim has been paid for the cotton crop produced during the Kharif season of 2023 in the said districts along with the details of total insurance claim amount paid thereof, village-wise in Haryana?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण राǛ मंũी (SHRI  RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a) & (b) : Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY)  envisages  use  of  improved technology. Accordingly, Government has taken various steps to strengthen implementation  of  the  scheme,  leveraging  technology  in  implementation  of  the  scheme, capturing of yield data/Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) data through CCE-Agri App for directly uploading it on the NCIP, allowing insurance companies to witness the conduct of CCEs, integration of State land records with National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP), roll out of  app  for  farmers  where  they  can  check  the  status  of  their  applications,  enrollment  of farmers through CSCs  etc.

In order to bring in more efficiency and  transparency in yield assessment as well as keeping in view  various difficulties  like  increase  in  number of  Crop  Cutting  Experiments (CCEs) due to reduction in unit area of insurance to village/village panchayat, shortage of manpower/infrastructure  with  States,  short  window  available  for  conducting  of  CCEs, manual data collection and transmission resulting in delay in calculation and settlement of claims; it has been decided to infuse technology in estimation of yield.   Accordingly, based on  the different pilot studies, conducted through Mahalanobis National Crop Forecasting Centre  (MNCFC)  under  the  Department  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare,  it  has  been decided  to  implement  YES-TECH  (Yield  Estimation  System  Based  on  Technology)  for gradual migration to Remote-Sensing based yield estimation.   Under YESTECH, various models using various inputs like remote sensing data, soil moisture data etc., have been developed and implemented.  This initiative has been launched for paddy & wheat crops from Kharif 2023  and for soybean crop from Kharif 2024 wherein 30% weightage to yield estimation is to be mandatorily be assigned to YES-TECH derived yield.   10 major States including  Haryana  have  adopted  the  YES-TECH  for  implementation  in  their  respective States.  However, cotton is still not included under YESTECH.

Further, as per Clause 19.2  of the Operational Guidelines 2023 of the scheme, any dispute relating to yield data etc. between the insurance company and State Government are settled through the State Level Technical Committee (STAC) at first level and Central Technical Advisory Committee (CTAC) at national level on appeal by any of the party to the dispute.

During Kharif 2023 season, to resolve the yield data dispute relating to cotton crop in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri district,  the STAC Haryana in its  Meeting held on 20 August 2024,  decided  to  obtain  Village-wise  Technical  yield  from  MNCFC/HARSAC in  terms  of Clause  19.5,  19.6  and  19.7  of  the  Operational  Guidelines  2023  of  PMFBY,  which  was accepted by both the State Government    and  Insurance company. No  further reference/appeal was made by any party to the CTAC against the orders of the STAC.

(c) & (d): A complaint from a farmers' organization named 'Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha' was received by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare against the settlement of Cotton crop claims in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri district using the Technology based Yield estimates.   On the basis of the complaint and as per provisions of scheme guidelines, State Government has been advised to take necessary action in the matter.

The  affected  farmers  can  appeal  against  the  decision  of  the  STAC  as  per  the Grievance  Redressal  Mechanism provided  in  the  scheme  viz.  before  State  Level Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC).   This committee has been given the detailed mandate as outlined in the Operational Guidelines for hearing the complaints/ grievances and to dispose them as per the stipulated procedure.

(e): Details of number of farmer applications benefitted,  area covered under insurance claims paid for cotton crop in Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri districts of Haryana during Kharif 2023 season are given below :

| District      |   Claim Paid (Rs. in Crs.) | Claims paid to the famers against Area Insured (In Hectares)   | Number of farmers benefitted (in Nos.)   |
|---------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| Bhiwani       |                      95.17 | 35,693.82                                                      | 25,527                                   |
| Charkhi Dadri |                      11.26 | 6,587.33                                                       | 5,988                                    |

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