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Low\nparticipation of farmers in Fasal Bima Yojana and Kisan Credit Card scheme reduces their chance of getting compensation

Udaipur,\nRajasthan: Looking at his barren fields, Udai\nLal Suthar (50)\ndescribes the severe agricultural losses he suffered this year. Both the vegetables\nand maize that he had cultivated did not survive, thanks to the unpredictable\nweather patterns and the resultant\nincrease in pest infestations and viral diseases.

“The initial blow came in June and July, when\npersistent heavy rains submerged my crops in knee-deep\nwater. The next month, the remaining crops wilted in high temperatures.\nFinally, in September, when we were harvesting whatever was left of our crops,\nsudden rains returned, and all of our harvested crops were ruined,” says\nSuthar, a resident of Badi village in Badgaon tehsil of Udaipur district in southern\nRajasthan.

This year, he incurred a loss totalling Rs 1 lakh as crops in at least eight hectares were\ndamaged. “There is nothing left in my fields, they are barren,” he laments. This situation is also forcing farmers like him to buy vegetables from the markets, adding to\ntheir already strained finances.

Erratic rainfall and recurrent dry spells over the last\nthree years have made crop planning exceedingly challenging. This year, Paldi village in Badgaon tehsil\nsaw severe pest infestation in maize and soybean crops.

Chandkuwar Rajput (40), a local resident, says rainfall in September\nflattened his maize crop. Most of it was also infested with worms and\nmites due to the changed weather pattern. “Worm infestations have affected not only maize and\nsoybean, but also smaller crops such as chillies. I have been investing a significant\namount of money in buying pesticides. Yet, I have incurred a loss of Rs 60,000 to 70,000,\"\nRajput laments.

$\"\"$ Yellow vein mosaic disease in soybean (Photo - Paridhi Jain, 101Reporters)

The\ngrim picture

Kharif (June to September) is the primary cropping season in\nUdaipur district. Maize, sorghum, paddy, urad dal (split\nblack lentil), moong dal (green\ngram), arhar (pigeon pea) and oilseeds such as moofli (groundnut), til (sesame) and soybean are among the major kharif crops here.

According to the information received from the office of agricultural department joint director in Udaipur, the net sown area of last year’s kharif season was 2,32,172 hectares.\nThe total volume of production in that season was 2,86,197 metric tonnes.

As per the department's estimate, nearly 7,800 farmers in the district have been adversely\naffected by a combination of monsoon variability and pest infestations. The\nestimated crop loss encompasses 16,000 hectares of agricultural land this kharif season, with 79%\nof the damage attributed to extreme rainfall and dry spells, and the rest to pests. In 2020-21, 2,093 hectares were affected by fall armyworm, whereas it was 3,355 hectares in 2022-23.

According to the Udaipur Collectorate office data,\nthe average rainfall this year was 737 mm, which is 159 mm less than last year’s\naverage. Additionally, there were 25 dry days during monsoon this year.

According to Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Udaipur, there\nhave been consecutive dry spells in the last four years in the district, with at least 20 to\n27 dry days during the monsoon season. Rise in temperatures have increased pest\npopulations as it decreased the pupation time in insects and made them\nless vulnerable to natural enemies. Similarly, increased rainfall with humidity can lead to fungal and viral\ndiseases in crops.

Dr Deepak Kumar Jain, Subject Matter Specialist, Plant Protection Cell, KVK Udaipur, tells 101Reporters that\ndry spells and extreme rainfall create a suitable environment for disease pests\nto proliferate.

\"During my field observations, I have noticed\nthat in the last two to three years, minor pests have become major pests, and\nnew pests have come up. The emergence of invasive species like the fall\narmyworm have also increased, affecting several crops, including maize, rice\nand sugarcane.”

“Controlling fall armyworm is very challenging as\nit can travel up to 100 km in a single night and lay 500 eggs in one go.\nAdditionally, with increased humidity, viral diseases, including yellow vein\nmosaic disease transmitted by whitefly, have become common in soybean,” Jain explains.

On the ways to control them, he says use of\nimproved seed varieties, chemical methods such as Emamectin benzoate and\npheromone traps can help. “Training sessions are organised to educate farmers\non the correct application of pesticides, and subsidies of Rs 500 per hectare\nare provided for buying pesticides. Moreover, growing Napier grass, application of neem oil\nand beejamrit, and deep ploughing can\nprove beneficial,\" Jain adds.

With research findings from Deshmukh et al. in\n2020 underscoring potential human health risks linked to Emamectin benzoate,\nthe question remains as to where to look for the right solution.

Stem borer spotted inside the maize crop (Photo - Paridhi Jain, 101Reporters)

Not many takers for crop insurance

Amid the agricultural crisis, there is a glimmer of\nhope in government initiatives, including the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana\n(PMFBY). Though the scheme covers crop loss due to\nunforeseen circumstances, including natural calamities, the participation of farmers\nin it is limited here.

About the low participation, Badi gram pradhan (village head)\nMadan Pandit tells 101Reporters that the procedure for applying\nunder Fasal Bima Yojana is complicated and time consuming, therefore farmers\ntend to ignore it. \"Also, the compensation they receive after verification by\nthe authorities is never the amount they initially applied for.”

Madho Singh Champawat, Joint Director, Rajasthan Agriculture\nDepartment, informs 101Reporters that\nUdaipur has six lakh farmers, and the participation in PMFBY in kharif season this year was of 43,845\nfarmers, covering only 34,211 hectares. The primary reason is that\nmost of them have small and marginal landholdings. Consequently, they often do\nnot avail of Kisan Credit Cards (KCC),\" he says.

Participation in PMFBY was earlier compulsory for loanee farmers obtaining crop loan/KCC account for notified crops. However, at present, they can opt out of PMFBY. As farmers are not much interested in taking insurance, they are covered under PMFBY and insured when they opt for KCC now. The farmers in Udaipur have very less land (say 0.5 hectare per person), so they do not benefit much from PMFBY. Moreover, a large number of farmers do not cultivate notified crops.

A similar situation exists regarding the\nparticipation of farmers in the KCC scheme. As per the agriculture department\nrecords from the current year, only 1,07,348 farmers have acquired KCCs, accounting for just 17% of\nthe total farmers in\nUdaipur. The average landholding in the district is 0.38 hectares,\nas per a NABARD report 2018. As a result, the\ninsurance payouts they would receive are rather limited, leading to their lack\nof interest in the scheme.

Champawat goes on to highlight the government’s\nefforts to increase farmer participation. \"We have been organising separate camps for both men and women, aiming to promote the cultivation of\ncommercial crops. We have facilitated exposure visits to educate farmers about\nvarious irrigation methods, including drip and sprinkler systems. Moreover, clusters comprising several gram panchayats have been formed in Udaipur district to train women farmers. Workshops, with at least 150 farmers in attendance,\nhave been conducted in\nevery village panchayat,” he says.

According to him, the department also organised krishi upaj mandi at Balicha this June, in\nwhich Chief Minister Ashok\nGehlot and 32,000 farmers took part. “We are actively encouraging people to engage in community and collective farming. Additionally, we are\nconstructing 320 farm ponds to provide irrigation throughout the year, thus\nmitigating the problem of dry spells.\"

Damaged crop of maize in Paldi village (Photo - Paridhi Jain, 101Reporters)

Back to roots

Dr Praful Chand Bhatnagar, Senior Scientist and\nHead of KVK Udaipur, highlights the success of some farmers in Phalasiya\nvillage after they transitioned to cultivating traditional proso millet (chena) and achieved good production with\nminimal insect attacks.

Heeralal Patel (47), a farmer from Phalasiya, shares his\nsuccess story. \"We used to cultivate moong dal and urad dal earlier, but most of it would get destroyed. Last year, we started cultivating chena, and the crop was entirely\npest-free,” he shares.

Patel gets a yield of 300 kg of millet per\nseason from his field, earning him around Rs 30,000. Seven farmers in the village are now\npractising millet cultivation, while others have shown a keen interest in\ncultivating it as their primary crop.

Dr Bhatnagar suggests that reviving traditional\ncropping systems, especially considering Udaipur's small landholdings, will\nhelp the farmers a lot. “Moving beyond cereals, they should adopt integrated\ncropping systems to include mixed crops such as oilseeds, tubers and pulses in\ntheir cultivation,” he says.

To help address the agricultural challenges in\nUdaipur, a mix of short-term and long-term measures involving government\nagencies, agricultural experts, NGOs and the farming community are required.

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Edited by Rekha Pulinnoli

Cover Photo - Damaged crop of maize in Paldi village (Photo - Paridhi Jain, 101Reporters)

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