It is a double whammy of sort for 53-year-old Girish K.V. and 49-year-old Bijoy V.G., two Gulf-returnees, who took up paddy farming. Their maiden attempt has been hit by unseasonal rains during the fag end of the last paddy season.
They had decided to take up cultivation on seven acres of fallow land near Kallada Bund under the Karalam Krishi Bhavan in Thrissur. “We spent around ₹4 lakh to make the land cultivable after taking it on lease. But our efforts went in vain when unseasonal rains flooded the crop nearing harvest in May and we had to incur a loss of around ₹7 lakh,” says Mr. Bijoy.
“Though our crop has been insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) and had insurance cover offered by the State government too, we have not received any compensation so far. We have also not received the grant announced by the government for turning fallow land arable,” he says.
As another paddy season is around the corner, a vast number of farmers who suffered loss last year due to climate-related issues are under severe stress.
K.K. Kochu Mohammed, who heads the Thrissur Kole Karshaka Sangom, a collective of farmer groups in the district, says the government’s delay in giving the insurance premium share has been delaying the disbursal of insurance claims by farmers. The premium for the insurance is shared by both farmer and the government. Though the farmer had paid his share at the beginning of the last season, the State is yet to pay its share.
The State has not paid its share, states a letter written by the Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd to the Agriculture Department Director on August 22.
“Rabi 2021 RWBCIS first instalment claims amounting to ₹43.39 crore is approved for 38,401 claim beneficiary farmers, but not disbursed as the second instalment of subsidy is not received yet. The claims pertaining to PMFBY-Paddy Winter -Rabi 2021 season are also under process. Hence, we request you to disburse the State share of subsidy pertaining to PMFBY/WBCIS Rabi 2021-22 season at the earliest to enable us for a timely claim settlement,” the letter says.
The steps to pay the insurance share is under way and it will be paid fully soon, the Joint Director, Agriculture Department, said
