Vijayanagara farmers await crop insurance claims

Vijayanagara: Lakhs of farmers across Vijayanagara district are staring at an uncertain future, with the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) allegedly failing to provide compensation for crop losses suffered during the previous kharif and rabi seasons.Nearly 80% of the district’s farmers reportedly suffered extensive crop loss. The destruction was caused by a combination of heavy rainfall and prolonged drought.Despite paying insurance premiums for various crops, thousands have been left without financial relief. This has triggered widespread resentment.With compensation pending for months, thousands of farmers across Vijayanagara continue to wait for insurance claims even as a new cropping season begins.The crisis has now spilled over into the ongoing sowing season. Poor monsoons have already affected fresh cultivation. Nearly 10% of all newly sown crops dried before germination, worsening the financial burden of farmers.Farmers insured major crops including maize, ragi, groundnut, sunflower, onion and chickpea. However, they say both their harvests and the insurance cover they depended on failed them.As a result, many cultivators are now reluctant to pay crop insurance premiums for the current season.

Farmers say crop-cutting experiments (CCEs) for onion, maize and groundnut were completed more than seven months ago. The district administration subsequently prepared yield estimation reports and submitted them to the insurance companies within the stipulated time.However, they alleged that the insurers failed to carry out a proper assessment. This delayed the settlement of claims.Farmers have urged the district administration to direct insurance companies to rectify technical errors.

These include issues related to application forms, Aadhaar linkage and bank account details that may have affected claim processing.According to D T Manjunath, an official from the agriculture department, data revealed a sharp mismatch between insured farmers and claim beneficiaries.Calling the distribution arbitrary and fragmented, N M Siddesh, president of the State Onion Growers’ Association, urged officials and departments concerned to jointly expedite the release of compensation.The compensation conundrumHarapanahalli recorded the highest enrolment. A total of 95,266 farmers covered 79,204 hectares and paid ₹70.6 crore in premiums. However, only 5,237 received a total of ₹80.5 crore in compensation.In Huvina Hadagali, 47,029 farmers insured 46,971 hectares by paying ₹40.4 crore, while payouts totalled ₹227.9 crore.Hagaribommanahalli saw 21,080 insured farmers covering 19,517 hectares with premiums of ₹20.2 crore.

Out of these, only 2,813 received ₹26.4 crore.Kotturu had 16,595 insured farmers over 14,525 hectares with premiums of ₹15.8 crore. Of these, 2,765 received ₹21.5 crore in compensation.In Kudligi, 7,242 farmers insured 6,483 hectares after paying ₹67.4 lakh, while only 736 received ₹15 crore.Hosapete recorded the lowest enrolment. A total of 1,073 farmers insured 714 hectares by paying ₹14 lakh, of whom 602 received ₹40 lakh in compensation.