Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is India's most important agricultural insurance scheme, providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss due to natural calamities, pests, and diseases. The premium structure is deliberately kept very low to encourage uptake: farmers pay just 2% of sum insured for Kharif crops, 1.5% for Rabi crops, and 5% for commercial and horticultural crops. The government — both state and central — pays the remaining premium.

What sets PMFBY apart from older crop insurance schemes is its use of technology for assessment. Crop losses are assessed through a combination of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs), satellite imagery, drone surveys, and smartphone-based reporting. This reduces the time for claims processing significantly compared to the older NAIS scheme. From 2020, PMFBY was made voluntary for loanee farmers (previously mandatory for those with crop loans) — a change that reduced coverage but gave farmers more agency.

Non-loanee farmers can apply directly through their bank, CSC, or online at pmfby.gov.in. The most critical point: you must enrol before the cutoff date for each season — typically 2 weeks before the last date of sowing. Missing the enrolment deadline means waiting a full season. Our editorial team reviewed current premium rates, crop-wise coverage, and claims process against the official PMFBY portal and MoAFW notifications, July 2026.