Umaisar Gull Ganie
Srinagar, Dec 19: Nearly 400 farmers have benefitted from various agricultural insurance schemes in south Kashmir’s Anantnag, the only district in Kashmir where the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is functional.
Chief Agriculture Officer, Anantnag, Ejaz Hussain said that 47 lakh rupees have been distributed as compensation among the affected farmers in the south Kashmir district this season.
He said the crop insurance scheme covers only three crops – maize, rice and oil seed. The scheme does not cover any other crops as of now, he said.
Farmers in Anantnag who grow any of the three crops can register for the insurance scheme through the online portal of Fasal Bima Yojana so that they can get compensation if impacted by natural calamities, Hussain said.
The officer said that in the Kashmir Valley, the agricultural sector every year faces losses due to natural calamities such as strong winds, hailstorms and heavy snowfalls. “In such a situation, the farmers have always been demanding that the governments should arrange such a process by which it would be possible to recover their losses in time. The scheme is a step in that direction and hopefully, it will be extended to other districts of Kashmir soon,” he said.
Director Agriculture, Kashmir, Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal said that the scheme will be expanded to other districts soon. “As of now, the insurance scheme is extended to three districts of the Jammu region and one from the Kashmir division,” he said.
The Director Agriculture said the approval of the crop insurance scheme for other districts will come in a few days and it will be implemented on the ground in the Kharif season (April 2023).
