Lok Sabha Question No. 390 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-02
Subject: Report regarding heavy crop losses due to Cyclone
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Bhumare Sandipanrao Asaram, Shri Gyaneshwar Patil

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 390

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 02 ND  DECEMBER, 2025

## REPORT REGARDING HEAVY CROP LOSSES DUE TO CYCLONE

## 390.    SHRI BHUMARE SANDIPANRAO ASARAM: SHRI GYANESHWAR PATIL:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has received a detailed report from the State Governments regarding the heavy losses caused to soybean, maize, sorghum, onion, coffee and banana and other crops due  to  heavy  rains,  storm  and  cyclone  in  the  States  of  Maharashtra  and  Madhya  pradesh particularly in Sambhajinagar and Khandwa Lok Sabha Constituencies;

(b) if so, the details of this damage and in terms of estimated economic value crop-wise;

(c)  whether  the  Government  has  considered  providing  a  special  economic  package,  apart from the NDRF's provisions, to provide immediate relief to affected farmers in light of the huge losses suffered by farmers;

(d) the number of crops for which insurance claims are to be settled for crops affected by this disaster under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in Sambhajinagar; and

(e) the steps being taken by the Government to expedite the claim assessment and payment process by insurance companies so that farmers can receive compensation as soon as possible

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण राÏय मंğी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a)  to  (c):  As  per  the  National  Policy  on  Disaster  Management  (NPDM),  the  primary responsibility for disaster management, including disbursal of relief assistance on ground level, rests with the State Governments concerned. The State Governments undertake relief measures in the wake of natural calamities, from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)  already  placed  at  their  disposal,  in  accordance  with  Government  of  India approved items and norms. The Central Government supplements the efforts of the State Governments and provides requisite logistics and financial support. Additional financial assistance is provided from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), as per laid down procedure, in case of disaster of 'severe nature', which includes an assessment based on the visit of an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT). However, information received from State Governments to Ministry of Home Affairs regarding area of crops affected is at Annexure-I.

As informed by the State Government of Maharashtra, in Chhatrapati Shambhajinagar District due to heavy rain & flood, total 608956 hectares area is affected and  total  689075  farmers  are  affected.  Estimated  economic  value  of  crop  damage  is Rs.1695.01 crore. Government of Maharashtra has conducted survey of affected area and provided relief and compensation to the farmers. Total amount of Rs.56314.42 lakh has been sanctioned to the affected farmers. Additionally, assistance of Rs.10,000 per hectare, up to a maximum of 3 hectares, will be provided for seeds and other related inputs for the rabi season.

(d) & (e): As far as losses to the crops notified i.e.  black gram, green gram, maize, onion, bajra, arhar, sorghum & soyabean in Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, it is stated that no claim has been worked out as  peril of  Localized Calamity has not been notified by the State Govt. in Kharif 2025.  Season end claim are worked out on the basis of yield data received from State Govt.

Steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  facilitate  farmers  insurance  payment  is  at Annexure-II.

Annexure-I Details of damages as reported by State/UTs due to hydro-meteorological disasters

## during the year 2025-26 (as on 27.11.2025)

| S. No.   | State                |   Cropped Area affected (in lakh ha.) |
|----------|----------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh       |                                1.506  |
| 2        | Arunachal Pr.        |                                0.072  |
| 3        | Assam                |                                0.41   |
| 4        | Bihar                |                                0      |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh         |                                0.0068 |
| 6        | Goa                  |                                0      |
| 7        | Gujarat              |                                0      |
| 8        | Haryana              |                                4.32   |
| 9        | Himachal Pr.         |                                0.32   |
| 10       | Jharkhand            |                                0.0017 |
| 11       | Karnataka            |                               14.81   |
| 12       | Kerala               |                                0      |
| 13       | Madhya Pr.           |                                0      |
| 14       | Maharashtra          |                               75.42   |
| 15       | Manipur              |                                0.039  |
| 16       | Meghalaya            |                                0.065  |
| 17       | Mizoram              |                                0      |
| 18       | Nagaland             |                                0.0058 |
| 19       | Odisha               |                                0.29   |
| 20       | Punjab               |                                1.93   |
| 21       | Rajasthan            |                                0      |
| 22       | Sikkim               |                                8.11   |
| 23       | Tamil Nadu           |                                0.29   |
| 24       | Telangana            |                                0      |
| 25       | Tripura              |                                0      |
| 26       | Uttar Pradesh        |                                2.22   |
| 27       | Uttarakhand          |                                0.0073 |
| 28       | West Bengal          |                                0      |
| 29       | Andaman & Nicobar    |                                0      |
| 30       | Chandigarh           |                                0      |
| 31       | Dadar & Nagar Haveli |                                0      |
| 32       | Delhi                |                                0      |
| 33       | J & K                |                                0.78   |
| 34       | Puducherry           |                                0.001  |
| Total    |                      |                              116.605  |

## As informed by Crop Insurance Division of DA&FW as on 28.11.2025

The losses due to localized risks of hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloud burst & natural  fire  and  post-harvest  losses  due  to  cyclone,  cyclonic/unseasonal  rains  & hailstorms are calculated on individual insured farm basis.  Farmers required to intimate the loss to the concerned insurance company, State Government, financial institutions/banks, online on National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) or PMFBY app etc.

2. The  review/revisions  /  rationalization  /  improvements  in  the  crop  insurance schemes  is  a continuous  process  and  decision on suggestion/ representations/ recommendations of the stakeholders/studies are taken from time to time.   Based on the experience  gained,  views  of  various  stakeholders  and  with  a  view  to  ensure  better transparency, accountability, timely payment of claims to the farmers and to make the scheme  more  farmer  friendly,  Government  has  periodically  revised  the  Operational Guidelines of the PMFBY comprehensively to ensure that the eligible benefits under the scheme reach the farmers timely and transparently.
3. Since the scheme is implemented by the State Government, therefore, in order to resolve the grievances/complaints including those related to claims of insured farmers, provision of Stratified Grievance Redressal Mechanism viz. District Level Grievance Redressal Committee (DGRC), State Level Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC) has been made in the Revised Operational Guidelines of the Scheme.    These committees have  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.
4. Government  has  taken  various  steps  to  strengthen  implementation  of  this scheme, bring transparency and ensure timely settlement of claims :
4.  Government has undertaken development of National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) as  a  single  source  of  data  ensuring  subsidy  payment,  co-ordination, transparency, dissemination of information and delivery of services including direct  online  enrollment  of  farmers,  uploading/obtaining  individual  insured famer's  details  for  better  monitoring  and  to  ensure  transfer  of  claim  amount electronically to the individual farmer's Bank Account.
5.  In  order  to  rigorously  monitor  claim  disbursal  process,  a  dedicated  module namely 'Digiclaim Module' has  been  operationalized  for  payment  of  claims from Kharif 2022 onwards.  It involves integration of National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) with Public Finance Management System (PFMS) and accounting system of Insurance Companies to provide timely & transparent processing of all claims w.e.f. Kharif 2024, in case payment is not made timely by Insurance Company, penalty of 12% is auto-calculated and levied through NCIP.
6.  Delinking of Central Government share of premium subsidy from that of State Governments  has  been  implemented  so  that  farmers  can  get  proportionate claims relating to the Central Government share.
7.  Opening of ESCROW Account by the State Government concerned for deposit of their premium share in advance as per provisions of the scheme has been made mandatory w.e.f. Kharif 2025 season.
8.  Also, towards leveraging technology in implementation of the scheme, various steps like capturing of yield data/Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) data through CCE-Agri App & uploading it on the NCIP, allowing insurance companies to witness the conduct of CCEs, integration of State land records with NCIP etc. have already been taken to improve timely settlement of the claims to farmers.
5. Following  technologies  for  Objective  Crop  Damage  &  Loss  Assessment  and transparency have also been implemented recently w.e.f. 2023-24 under the scheme:
- a) WINDS (Weather Information Network & Data System) - is a pioneering initiative of the country to set-up a network of Automatic Weather Stations & Rain Gauges at  Taluk/Block  and  Gram  Panchayat  level,  respectively,  to  create  a  strong database of hyper-local weather data for the different Govt. and other entities to use for all farmer and farming oriented services.
- b) YES-Tech (Yield Estimation based on Technology) - is a technology based yield estimation mechanism which has been developed after 2 years of rigorous testing and pilot runs across 100 districts of the country. Crop Loss assessment and Yield estimation assisted by data inputs from such as Remote Sensing indices, Weather indices, crop phenological information, soil types etc. using approved Technologies/Approaches.

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