Crop insurance scheme should cover damages caused by stray animals: Par Panel

 It also recommended free compulsory crop insurance to small farmers with land holdings of up to 2 hectares.

A Parliament Standing Committee of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing, in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, said the PMFBY aims to provide financial support to farmers in the event of crop losses due to natural calamities, pest attacks and other adverse conditions."The committee suggest that the damages caused to the crops by stray animals may be considered for covering under PMFBY so that the farmers whose crops are destroyed by stray animals are entitled for compensation under PMFBY," the report said. It also asked the government to address issues such as delay in fund release from state governments and inadequate compensation against losses, at the earliest to improve the scheme's effectiveness.

The committee said that "free compulsory crop insurance to small farmers with land holdings of up to 2 hectares, if provided by the government on lines of health insurance Scheme- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) to all citizens of the country, can significantly impact the financial stability of smallholder farmers..." This will help in providing small farmers a safety net against crop losses and encouraging investment in better farming practices as they would be sure of financial compensation for losses caused by natural calamities, pests or diseases, it added.

"Consequently, this step would go a long way in helping farmers avoid debt traps and ensuring that they can reinvest in the next crop cycle," the report said.

On the need to tackle issues related to crop residue, the committee recognised that the widespread practice of burning crop residues, commonly referred to as Parali, is a significant environmental concern.The panel stressed on the need to have a multifaceted approach to address crop residue management. This approach should include a combination of policy interventions, farmer education, technological innovations and financial incentives.

Financial support is crucial to encourage farmers to adopt alternative methods for utilising crop residue, such as converting it to bioenergy, composting or other productive uses instead of burning, it said. "To effectively discourage the burning of crop residue and minimise its environmental impact and considering the economic viability of farmers, the committee strongly recommends that the government provide financial assistance of ₹100 per quintal of paddy to farmers as compensation for the cost incurred in collecting parali (paddy residue)," the report said. This amount should be in addition to the minimum support price (MSP) and directly transferred to farmers' bank accounts at the time of paddy procurement.

The financial incentives could be distributed through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, ensuring efficient and transparent delivery to farmers' bank accounts. "The committee recommends starting with a financial incentive of ₹100 per 100 kg of paddy and conducting large-scale research studies to assess the costs and returns for alternative crop-residue management techniques," it added.