: Noida Startup Insures 50,000 Farmers Against Bad Weather Starting At Just Rs 35 #IndiaNEWS #Lede Virender Singh from Chamba village, Uttarakhand, owns an apple orchard in five acres of land. Unfortunately,

Noida Startup Insures 50,000 Farmers Against Bad Weather Starting At Just Rs 35 #IndiaNEWS #Lede
Virender Singh from Chamba village, Uttarakhand, owns an apple orchard in five acres of land. Unfortunately, hail storms and extreme weather conditions in 2020 severely affected the harvest and caused heavy damage to the crops. Thanks to the insurance cover he signed up with a startup, GramCover, which helped him recover around Rs 45,000.
“I paid a premium of Rs 200 for each of the 100 trees to secure the orchard from such risks. The insurance helped me recover from the financial losses. It is better to receive any amount than to face a total loss,??? he says.
Like Virender, there are about 50,000 farmers across five states who have secured the risks of losing their crop to extreme weather conditions.
Jatin Singh, Managing Director and co-founder, says, “The startup specifically aims to help marginalised farmers like Virender who cannot seek crop insurance directly under the government schemes. The reason being that despite crop insurance being around for a significant time, most of the insured farmers have been ‘loanee’ farmers who remain insured through the banks. But marginalised farmers, having small landholdings, cannot access the same provisions. ???
Farmers attending workshop of GramCover.
“Small-time farmers also include landless cultivators who take land on a tenancy basis and pursue agriculture. They seek funds from private institutions or personal networks. These farmers are the most vulnerable and have the least access to formal finance as well as insurance. It becomes a challenge to cater to such farmers, and hence we are protecting them against financial losses,??? he says.
Jatin adds that about 60 per cent of the farmers in India cannot afford to seek loans from banks and fail to become eligible under the government crop insurance schemes.
Jatin explains, “The startup is ensuring that the non-loanee farmers also get access to insurance. We extend insurance coverage to these farmers, bringing them under the ambit of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) who would not be covered under this scheme otherwise. ???
Launched in December 2017, about 1. 8 million farmers have signed up for the startup’s policies from Bengal, Assam, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The insurance premium ranges from Rs 35 up to Rs 2,000, depending on the commodity to be insured.
Filling the gap
Launched in 2003 when Jatin came across Skymet to provide reliable weather data and information to the farmers across India, he soon realised that though farmers could benefit from the early weather warnings and take immediate measures to protect their crops, it still did not cover their losses in harsh weather conditions.

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