Final 12 months Sandip Pansare’s gamble to insure his 5 acres of onion crop paid off when, simply earlier than the state elections in November, he acquired Rs 60,000 as compensation for crop loss. “In April, unseasonal rains ruined my harvest-ready crop. Whereas this was not sufficient to cowl the losses, it was sufficient to tide over the sowing price. With unseasonal rains and pests turning into extra widespread, crop insurance coverage is an efficient cowl for onion growers like us,” stated this 40-year-farmer from Naigaon village in Nashik district of Maharashtra.
“Increasingly farmers in our areas are going for crop insurance coverage. The premium is Rs 1 and as my expertise goes, the compensation shouldn’t be dangerous,” he stated.
Eknath Sanap, one other farmer from Naigaon agreed. “The insurance coverage cowl is an efficient cushion for crop loss. Slowly farmers are choosing this,” he stated.
Sanap and Pansare should not alone in realizing the advantages of the crop insurance coverage scheme. The state agriculture division has seen a gradual rise in onion farmers insuring their fields underneath the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Authorities knowledge reveals that in 2024-25, over 7.43 lakh hectares of onion crop was insured in Maharashtra. 5 years in the past, within the 12 months 2019-20, this quantity was nearly 45,000 hectares (see field).
Officers say the choice to cost a nominal premium was one of many largest causes for this important rise in insurance coverage cowl. “Since 2023, farmers in Maharashtra need to pay solely Rs 1 as premium. This has boosted the world insured within the state,” stated an Agriculture Division officer.
The largest enhance in farmers choosing insurance coverage occurred instantly after the premium was lowered.
Farmers say local weather change, which has introduced larger uncertainty in rainfall and made extreme rainfall a reasonably frequent occasion, had additionally contributed to larger acceptance of the crop insurance coverage scheme.
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Maharashtra is the most important onion producer of the nation, accounting for over 34 per cent of the nationwide manufacturing. Within the final 5 monsoon seasons, its onion rising areas have reported extra rainfall particularly in Nashik division for 4 of the 5 seasons. Heavy rainfall within the tail finish of the monsoon has led to kharif losses. Additionally, heavy summer season rainfall, particularly in 2023, has led to losses within the rabi crop for farmers like Pansare.
Tushar Ugale, an onion agronomist from the Nashik-based KK Wagh School of Agriculture, stated onion growers have confronted points because of frequent climatic modifications over the previous few years. Late November rains, he stated, had led to rabi nursery beds being washed away. Onion, he stated, requires fixed local weather and the variances led to assaults of fungus, thrips and so forth. “Crop insurance coverage is now being seen as a security internet which permits some losses to be absorbed.”
