Farmers can now insure their crop against weather uncertainties

Private insurer Bajaj Allianz has launched a weather-based crop insurance scheme for orange tree plantation in Nagpur, Hingoli and Washim districts of Maharashtra. The index-based insurance policy will cover losses incurred by orange fruit-growing farmers due to a deviation in weather conditions, and has been approved by Central and the State government, a company release said. The company has also launched a campaign to create awareness about the scheme in three districts.

The losses based on weather impact will be assessed on the basis of pre-defined and government-approved term sheets and actual weather data received from an approved automatic weather station installed in each block of these districts.

Vice president & head of agriculture business at Bajaj Allianz Ashish Agarwa said, "The company has identified the need to offer the product in these areas, looking at the volumes of the produce and how unfavourable weather conditions had an impact on the produce". The new product will mitigate the losses incurred and ensure that farmers do not lose out on their income because of uncertainties of nature, it said.

Farmers who have taken loan through Kissan Credit Card (KCC) would automatically get insured (for the scheme) by their banks, while those who don't have KCC but savings accounts need to visit the bank branches and authorise the banks to enrol them in the scheme.

As part of the awareness campaign, a van will travel for 10 days in the orange-growing belt of Katol, Narkheda and Kalmeshwar and educate farmers while it will also use radio, hoardings, street plays mediums.

Bajaj Allianz insured more than 33 lakh farmers last year under government crop insurance programmes. It paid claims worth Rs 434 crore under these programmes, which benefited more than 27 lakh farmers, it has claimed.