1Research Associate, Agro-Economic Research Centre, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Anand, India, Email id: kalpanakapadia25@yahoo.com
2Assistant Professor/Research Officer, Agro-Economic Research Centre, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Anand, India, Email id: mrutyunjay77@gmail.com
India is an agrarian country and agriculture continues to be the main stay of economy providing livelihood to 2/3rd of its population. The fortune of the majority of the population depends on the performance of the agriculture sector that faces numerous risks such as drought, flood, cyclone, crop insurance schemes that basically provide a safety net for farm loan dues in case of crop damage. The aim of this paper is to analyze the status and prospects of National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) in India with a special focus on its performance in Gujarat. NAIS is consi literature. The study finds that, the ratio of farmers benefited to farmers covered and claims to premium is 0.26 and 2.98 respectively from 2000–01 to 2013–14 in India. Positive trend was observed in major states in terms of number of farmers covered under the scheme since its inception. However, scheme apparently seems not to be successful in minimizing the risks of farming. About 95 million farmer households are not yet covered. So far as Gujarat is concerned, 143.3 lakh farmers covered and 49.5 lakh farmers benefited under the NAIS scheme. Overall, Rs 700 crores of claims of farmers were paid under the crop insurance scheme in the State during 2014–15. It is observed that the delay in settlements, huge administrative costs and lack of transparency are the major constraints inherent in the NAIS. It is suggested to consider Village level/Grama Panchayat to fasten the claims settlement by simplification of procedure for revival of the scheme.
Agricultural Risk, Climate Risk, Crop Insurance, National Agricultural Insurance Scheme JELQ14, Q18
