District Administration Kathua today rolled out plan for successful implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY), in the district.During a meeting convened here today the Deputy Commissioner called upon the banks and insurance companies to have focused attention on increasing awareness about the scheme among all stakeholders and stressed on better coordination among concerned agencies for effective implementation of the scheme.Deputy Commissioner called upon the agriculture and allied departments, banks, insurance company for focusing on vulnerable areas that get affected by natural disasters like floods, draughts, dry spells incessant rains, pests & diseases and hailstroms etc on standing crop, post harvest of crops. He said the Provision of individual farm level assessment for Post harvest losses against the cyclonic & unseasonal rains for the crops kept in the field for drying upto a period of 14 days is also incorporated in the scheme to compensate farmers for their insured crops. He said the teams involving various agencies will cover blocks starting from identified vulnerable blocks.
While highlighting the scheme, DC said that it aims to help stabilize the income of farmers, ensuring flow of credit to agriculture sector. He said the scheme will encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agriculture practices and mitigating the financial risks of farmer suffering from crop losses.Pertinent to mention here that under the PMFBY scheme, insurance is compulsory for loanee farmers availing crop loans for notified crops in notified areas and voluntary for non-loanee farmers. The crops covered under the schemes are paddy and maize during kharief and wheat during Rabi season. The crop of Mango under horticulture is also covered in Kathua district alongwith Samba and Jammu districts.Under the plan reliance insurance the assigned insurance agency for crop insurance will cover the target of 25% of the total crop area of the district. Under the plan 45894 hectares of wheat around, 28872 hectares of paddy around and 22454 hectares of maize around will be covered under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) .The DC also called for displaying of posters, distribution of pamphlets in banks and identified locations in every block.ADC Kathua Dr Bharat Bhushan, Chief Agriculture Officer, Kathua, chief horticulture officer Kathua, representatives of insurance companies and other officers attended the meeting.