Why have some states lost interest in the centre’s flagship crop insurance scheme? (The Wire) 

The Wire (India) published an article on the crop insurance scheme in India. Out of all the ‘Pradhan Mantri’ schemes launched over the last few years none has received as much criticism as the PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). Due to the variety of crops even within a cluster, the small size of farms, differences in farming practices, uncertainty of weather, and budgetary constraints of state governments, there is no central scheme which is more difficult to administer than this. IFPRI, along with other organizations submitted reports suggesting that accuracy up to 85-90% can be achieved in the assessment of crop yield for rice and wheat. This can reduce dependence on crop cutting experiments. There is a need to integrate the use of technology for assessment of yield.