All about Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: Crop Insurance 2026

Indian agriculture has always lived at the mercy of the monsoon, pests, and unpredictable weather. A single failed season can wipe out a farming family's income for the entire year. To address this, the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, popularly known as PMFBY, on 18 February 2016 at Sehore, Madhya Pradesh. Today, it stands as one of the largest crop insurance programmes in the world by farmer enrolment, and understanding how it works can make a real difference for anyone dependent on farm income.

So, let's talk about what the crop insurance scheme covers, how premiums are calculated, the Fasal Bima Yojana registration process, and what farmers should know before the next enrolment window closes.

What Is PMFBY?

PMFBY was introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to replace older insurance programmes: the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and the Modified NAIS with a more farmer-friendly design. The scheme follows a "One Nation, One Scheme" approach and provides comprehensive coverage against non-preventable natural risks that can damage crops at any stage, from pre-sowing right through to post-harvest.

As a type of non-life insurance, crop insurance provides financial protection against specified risks to crops, similar to how other forms of general insurance protect against different non-life risks.

Importantly, PM Fasal Bima coverage isn't limited to loanee farmers. While farmers who take institutional crop loans through a Kisan Credit Card were once automatically enrolled, the scheme was revamped starting Kharif 2020, making participation voluntary for all farmers, loanee and non-loanee alike, according to official Press Information Bureau (PIB) releases from the Ministry of Agriculture. This means every farmer growing a notified crop in a notified area can choose to enrol, but no one is compelled to.

Why the Low Premium Structure Matters?

One of the defining features of this crop insurance scheme is how little farmers actually pay out of pocket. The premium structure is fixed and heavily subsidised:

• 2% of the sum insured for Kharif (monsoon season) crops
• 1.5% of the sum insured for Rabi (winter season) crops
• 5% of the sum insured for annual commercial and horticultural crops

The difference between this farmer-share premium and the full actuarial premium, which can run into thousands of rupees per hectare depending on the crop and region, is jointly covered by the Central and State governments. So if a farmer's actual risk-based premium is significantly higher than what they're asked to pay, the government absorbs that gap.

This subsidy model is what makes PMFBY one of the most affordable crop insurance products available anywhere, and it's a major reason enrolment has grown substantially. Official government data shows total farmer enrolment rising from 3.17 crore in 2022-23 to 4.19 crore in 2024–25, the highest since the scheme's inception.

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What Risks Does PMFBY Cover?

The scheme is built to protect farmers across the entire crop cycle, not just at harvest time:

1. Prevented sowing or planting - If adverse weather like drought or flooding stops most farmers in a notified area from sowing at all, they can claim up to 25% of the sum insured to recover input costs already spent.
2. Standing crop losses - Coverage for yield losses during the growing period due to non-preventable risks such as drought, flood, hailstorm, pest attack, and disease.
3. Post-harvest losses - Individual farm-level coverage for crops damaged within a defined window (commonly up to 14 days) after harvest, when crops are drying in the field.
4. Localised calamities - Damage from hailstorm, landslide, and inundation affecting specific fields, assessed on an individual basis rather than at the broader notified-area level.

Fasal Bima Yojana Registration: How to Enroll?

How a farmer signs up for Fasal Bima Yojana registration depends largely on their loan status:

• Farmers with an active crop loan or Kisan Credit Card are usually added to the scheme automatically by their bank when the loan is processed. That said, the rules changed in 2020; these farmers are no longer locked in and can choose to opt out if they'd rather not participate.
• Farmers without an institutional loan have to take the initiative themselves. They can sign up directly on the official portal at pmfby.gov.in, visit a nearby Common Service Centre (CSC), or apply through their bank branch.

For the registration process, a few documents are usually required:

• Aadhaar card along with bank account information
• Proof of land ownership or a tenancy agreement (tenant farmers and sharecroppers qualify too, so documentation for their arrangement works as well)
• A sowing certificate, or a self-declaration confirming which crop has been planted
• A passport-size photo

Once the application is in, farmers can follow its progress on the official portal using their application number, policy number, or the mobile number they registered with.

Note: There's no single, nationwide cutoff date for enrolment. Every state has its own time frames, which usually coincide with the onset of Kharif and Rabi sowing season; hence, farmers are advised to verify the specific deadlines in the notification issued by the state government.

Filing a Claim

If crop damage occurs, farmers are expected to report the loss within a defined window, commonly cited as 72 hours from the event, through the Crop Insurance mobile app, the toll-free helpline, or their nearest Common Service Centre or agriculture officer. Understanding the general insurance claim process can also help farmers know what to expect when reporting a covered loss and submitting the required information. The scheme uses technology, satellite imagery, remote sensing, drones, and smartphone-based Crop Cutting Experiments to speed up damage assessment and reduce disputes over claim amounts. Once assessed and approved, the claim amounts are transferred directly into the farmer's bank account.

Final Thoughts

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana provides farmers with financial protection against crop losses caused by eligible natural risks. With subsidised premiums and coverage available across different stages of the crop cycle, the scheme can help reduce the financial impact of an unsuccessful harvest.

Since PMFBY is voluntary, farmers can assess the risks associated with their crops and check the applicable premium, coverage and enrolment deadline for their area. Understanding these details and completing registration within the specified period can help farmers protect their income from unexpected crop losses.