Weather insurance scheme from June

The Indian government will soon launch a comprehensive weather-based crop specific insurance scheme to fight farmer suicides due to drought and other factors in the country.

Agriculture Insurance Company of India has chalked out the insurance scheme that will be initially implemented in the coming Kharif season in June in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Karnataka.

AIC Managing Director M Parshad told reporters on Tuesday that the weather-based crop specific insurance scheme will be introduced on a pilot basis.

"The insurance scheme will give quick relief to farmers and would mitigate their woes to a great extent," he said.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had proposed the insurance scheme in the 2007-08

Budget. Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) has been allocated as subsidy for the scheme, intended as an alternative to the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme.

Parshad said fast processing and timely settlement under the scheme would prevent farmer suicides to some extent, which are largely caused due to "price loss and crop loss".

AIC has taken over the implementation of NAIS, which until 2002-03 was implemented by General Insurance Corporation of India.

NAIS is an area-based yield guarantee insurance scheme, which requires sample surveys technically called "Crop Cutting Experiments" to assess how the scheme has fared. Besides, farmers could enter the scheme even after the commencement of the season.