Thread by @BimaPeBharosa

#Locusts might be coming back. Can insurance protect farmers?

A few days ago, certain districts in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh sounded an alert for a possible locust attack.

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Locusts travel in large swarms of up to 80 million and can eat up to their own weight in crops every day. They wreak devastation wherever they go. And so, the farmers in these areas need to protect their crops however they can.

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The last time Rajasthan saw a locust attack was in 2020. At the time, the state saw a 45% jump in enrolment for the government-sponsored crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

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Insurance experts said this was because farmers knew their chances of getting a claim were higher under the circumstances.

But there was a catch- crop losses due to pest attacks are not covered under PMFBY unless the government declares it a national disaster.

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So when all this went down, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to issue the declaration.

And fortunately, in September, the Ministry of Home Affairs did so, bringing crop losses due to locust attacks under the ambit of PMFBY.

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But let’s hope the situation this year doesn’t get that bad.

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