PM Fasal Bima Yojana: Big Relief For Farmers From Kharif 2026; Govt Expands Crop Protection

PM Fasal Bima Yojana Changes 2025:

Farmers across the country will soon get protection against two of the most common causes of sudden crop loss — wild animal attacks and paddy inundation. The agriculture ministry has approved new modalities under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), ensuring that these risks will now be covered nationwide from the Kharif 2026 season. The changes will be rolled out from Kharif 2026.

With this move, the government has addressed long-standing demands from several States, especially those where crops are frequently damaged by wildlife or washed away by heavy rains and seasonal floods.

“The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has now recognised the modalities for covering crop loss due to Wild Animal

Attacks and Paddy Inundation under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY),” the ministry said in a statement on November 18.

It added that the modalities have been prepared in accordance with the PMFBY Operational Guidelines, ensuring a scientific, transparent and operationally feasible framework for implementation nationwide, and will be rolled out from Kharif 2026.

Wild Animal Attack to Be Fifth Add-on Cover

Under the revised framework, crop loss due to wild animal attacks will now be recognised as the fifth Add-on Cover under the Localised Risk category of PMFBY, according to the statement.

States will prepare a notified list of animals—such as elephants, wild boars, nilgai, deer, and monkeys, based on historical data and local patterns of crop depredation. Vulnerable districts and insurance units will also be identified using past records, it added.

To file a claim, farmers must report losses within 72 hours through the Crop Insurance App by uploading geotagged photographs of the damaged fields. This aims to make the entire process quick, transparent, and technology-driven.

Wild animal depredation has been a major pain point, particularly for farmers living close to forests, wildlife corridors, and hilly regions. Until now, these losses often went uncompensated as they were not covered under crop insurance.

Paddy Inundation Cover Returns After Seven Years

In another key decision, the government has reintroduced Paddy Inundation as a Localised Calamity Cover under PMFBY, according to the statement.

This will benefit lakhs of paddy farmers in flood-prone and coastal States, including Odisha, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand.

Paddy inundation was removed from PMFBY in 2018 over concerns regarding moral hazard and difficulty in assessing submerged crops. However, the exclusion created a serious protection gap, especially in regions where heavy rains, overflowing rivers and seasonal flooding submerge paddy fields year after year.

The Ministry has now put in place a scientific and practical framework—finalised by an expert committee and approved by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan—to ensure accurate and timely claim settlement.

Stronger Protection for States with High Risk

The new measures are expected to benefit farmers across regions facing frequent human–wildlife conflict, including:

• Odisha
• Chhattisgarh
• Jharkhand
• Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Tamil Nadu
• Uttarakhand
• Assam
• Meghalaya
• Manipur
• Mizoram
• Tripura
• Sikkim
• Himachal Pradesh

In these areas, attacks by elephants, boars, nilgai and other animals have been causing regular and severe crop losses.

“Reintroducing Paddy Inundation as a Localised Calamity Cover under PMFBY will especially benefit farmers in coastal and flood-prone States, including Odisha, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, where paddy submergence is a recurring challenge. Together with the inclusion of Wild Animal Attack, these additions make PMFBY more inclusive, responsive and farmer-friendly, further strengthening the resilience of India’s crop insurance system,” the agriculture ministry said.