Lok Sabha Question No. 2036 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-11
Subject: Report on PMFBY
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Sukhdeo Bhagat

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2036

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11 TH  MARCH, 2025

## REPORT ON PMFBY

2036. SHRI SUKHDEO BHAGAT:

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

(a) whether the 2023 CAG report on PMFBY reveals that 75% of insurance claims favour large agribusinesses, while only 25% of small farmers receive timely payouts, with 50% facing delays over six months;

(b) whether it is a fact that 85% of our country's farmers are small holders; and

(c) the steps that the Government is taking to ensure equitable and timely benefits under the scheme, instead of favouring large corporate farms?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (c)  :  No  specific  audit  of  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY)  has  been conducted by the C & AG during 2023.   Over 85% of country's farmers are small and marginal farmers. Government has taken various steps to strengthen implementation of the scheme, such as  leveraging technology in implementation of the scheme, option to States to fix sum insured based on Scale of Finance or notional value of average yield,  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), development of digiclaim module to work out & settle claims on NCIP using PFMS credentials, roll out of app for farmers where they can check the status of their applications, enrollment of farmers through CSCs  etc. for grassroot level enrollment.

PMFBY  envisages  use  of  improved  technology. Accordingly, National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) and Application for Intermediary Enrolment (AIDE) app have been developed to disseminate information about the scheme to the farmers.   Farmers, can insure themselves through the portal and apps and check the status of their application, claims etc.  Further, Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) under Common Service Centres (CSCs) have also been engaged to enroll farmers and disseminate information regarding coverage, claims, Artificial Intelligence based Chatbot etc. under the scheme.

Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has carried out pilot studies for timely and  transparent  yield  estimation  under  PMFBY  using  technology  by  engaging  various Government  and  private  agencies  through  Mahalanobis  National  Crop  Forecast  Centre (MNCFC).   Based on the findings of these pilots and after discussions with stakeholders & technical  consultations, YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System Based on Technology) has been introduced for paddy and wheat crops from Kharif 2023 and for Soyabean crop from  Kharif  2024.  Government  has  implemented  technology  based  yield  estimation alongside  conventional  Crop  Cutting  Experiments  (CCEs)  based  yield  estimation  for improving crop loss assessment and achieving timely insurance claims payout for farmers. Under this initiative,  minimum  30% weightage is mandatorily required to be assigned to YES-TECH derived yield thereby resulting in transparency and efficiency.

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