Crop Insurance — Best Method To Stop Farmer Suicides
As per official records, the number of farmers who have ended their lives due to various reasons in India is estimated at over 3 lakh since the year 2000. The most important part to notice here is that these numbers exclude the number of agricultural laborer suicides. Many communities in the country dependent on agriculture for a livelihood and these suicides constitute a massive agrarian crisis in India.
There are various reasons for the crisis such as,
- Rising costs of inputs
- Non-availability of key resources such as water for irrigation
- Volatility in prices of produce
- Inadequate knowledge of modern methods of farming
- Changing and inimical policy regimes
- Worsening terms of exchange
The proximate reason for farmer suicides is their inability to pay back the loan taken at the beginning of the cycle if the crop fails. Crop insurance could mitigate the risk faced by farmers. An analysis conducted by Livemint on Crop Insurance schemes hosted by the government over the last 4 decades showed that the failure of crop insurance is mainly due to the following reasons,
a) Reluctance on the part of governments to allocate adequate funds for providing subsidy required to support cost of insurance — exacerbated by the problems that arise when the central and the state governments have to agree on a subsidy-sharing formula
b) Delays in payment of compensation — arising from bureaucratic hurdles in assessment of damage and disbursal of compensation
c) Inadequacy of the compensation amount in the case of crop failure
In the 1980s, compensation for Crop insurance was given to farmers only when there was crop damage at minimum 50 per cent taluk level, which changed to minimum 50 per cent damage at the panchayat level in 1990s. Post 2000, it came down to 50 per cent at block level.
The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) initiated in 2016 is a step ahead, it is now up to village level. There have been many stories of farmers committing suicide due to crop damage. One such story is the story of Vishal Pawar who committed suicide leaving behind 4 suicide notes. Read the story below.
In India, there are around 100 million farmers who work diligently and still seem to suffer the most. Their work is full of risk as it is dependent on the unexpected climatic patterns which can change any moment. It becomes the duty of the Government to consider about the well-being of farmers and reducing the risks related with agricultural activities in India.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna will provide coverage against local-level calamities such as hail storms and landslides and even offer coverage to the farmers if they are unable to sow crops due to inclement weather. Also, the scheme will cover post-harvest losses due to cyclonic and unseasonal rains.
Agriculture, without any doubt is the backbone of our country and our economic growth depends on how well the agri sector performs in the coming years. The growing number of farmer suicides over crop failure is not a good sign and the situation needs to be controlled. The new PMFBY portal is a good step towards that direction ensuring financial assistance to farmers in adverse conditions.
