Weather based insurance for crops; Atal Dulloo reviews implementation

JAMMU, JANUARY 31: Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production Department (APD), Atal Dulloo, chaired a meeting to review implementation of Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) in Jammu and Kashmir here today.

The meeting focused on the response from various insurance companies to the tender document.

During the meeting, discussion was held on several technical issues related to the implementation of the scheme including jurisdiction demarcation and crop identification.

ACS raised concerns of farmers and urged upon the insurance companies to understand the administration’s goal of helping the farming community. He called for finalising the terms sheet as soon as possible so that the Request for Proposal (RFP) can be floated and the tenders issued in a short period of time, thereby benefiting farmers. He also emphasised the administration’s aim to protect farmers from losses due to adverse weather conditions.

The participants discussed suggestions for different climatic conditions and geographical differences in the region. The insurance scheme aims to cover damages caused by unseasonal and excessive rainfall, abnormal temperature fluctuations, and hail storms.

The meeting also reviewed assessment methodologies for different crops to calculate damages, both for regular and high-density plantations.

It was revealed in the meeting that the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K) is working on developing an Internet of Things (IoT) system to monitor crop yield and damages due to climatic and other adverse conditions.

Vice Chancellor, SKUAST K, Nazia Ahmad, Secretary APD, Shabnam Kamili, Mission Director PMFBY, Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal besides representatives of insurance companies and other officers were present in the meeting.