Bihar, which notified the Prime Minister’s crop insurance scheme just two days back on Wednesday, will now get sixteen days beyond the stipulated cut-off date of August 15 to enrol farmers.
The decision has been taken by the Centre to allow paddy farmers in the state to get benefit of the scheme as very few could be enrolled over the last two days.
“Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has approved to extend the cut-off date for applying for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojna till August 31, 2016 for Bihar. The farmers can apply for the scheme and Banks can take the premium under the PMFBY in Bihar up to the extended date,” an official release said.
“It was important for the Centre to extend the scheme for Bihar as the entire State, which has a large number of paddy farmers, would have got excluded this year,” an Agriculture Ministry official told
The PMFBY insures farmers against the vagaries of nature at very low premia fixed at 2 per cent of the insured value for the kharif crop and 1.5 per cent for the rabi season.
Premium for farmers in the previous schemes, many of which have now been discontinued, was much higher at 3.5 per cent to 8 per cent.