Visakhapatnam: JNU Prof calls for effective mitigation of risks for farmers

Visakhapatnam: Farmers take a risk on account of vagaries of the weather, pest attacks and plant diseases, variability and unpredictability of prices. These risks can be mitigated in an effective way, Professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, Vikas Rawal said. Speaking at a seminar organised by the Insurance Institute of India and Vizag Insurance Educational Society here on Sunday, the Professor said investment in agriculture, particularly, in irrigation and water control, and research and extension will help farmers deal with challenges they face.

Speaking further, Vikas Rawal said in 2016, the government moved to Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), which opened crop insurance to the private sector at the national level. The evidence indicates that there was an initial expansion of coverage under PMFBY but this has stagnated after that, he noted. Even data reported by the insurance companies show that after the introduction of PMFBY, the amount of premium collected by insurance companies has far exceeded the amount of claims they have provided. Prior to PMFBY, claims exceeded the premium collected, he explained. Statutory guarantee of minimum support price to farmers will help a great deal with price risk. Even as the framework for providing a price guarantee was created in the 1960s and 1970s on the basis of recommendations of the Jha Committee (1964), this system has been limited to wheat and rice and over the years has ceased to provide an effective guarantee of price support to all farmers, Vikas Rawal explained.

Only a tiny fraction of farmers today have an assurance that their produce will fetch them at least the MSP. Meanwhile, insurance is another instrument that can be used for mitigating risk in agriculture. While this may be important on the margins, until the 1980s, insurance was not considered as the centre-piece of the government’s strategy to mitigate risk in agriculture, the Professor observed.

Senior divisional manager of LIC, Visakhapatnam, Sarada Prasad Dash also spoke. The seminar was presided over by AVRK Murthy, honorary secretary. Institute committee members N Ramakrishna, SS Moorthy, Subba Rao, SS Ganesh, CHV Ramana, Venkata Kumar participated.

Later, Vikas Rawal participated in a seminar on the topic ‘Scrap NPS- OPS for All’ organised by the People for India Visakhapatnam Forum. The seminar was also addressed by convenor of the forum Aja Sarma. Convenor of People of India M Kameshwari presided over the programme.