The Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board (AAIB) has expanded its crop insurance programmes to give farmers wider protection against natural disasters and climate-related losses, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation said on Thursday.
The schemes now cover a broad range of cultivations, with priority on key plantation crops including cinnamon, rubber, banana, tea and coconut. A separate cover has been introduced for seed paddy farms.
Premiums are offered at concessionary rates, the Ministry said, to encourage adoption among smallholders who carry the bulk of weather risk. Frequent droughts and bursts of heavy rainfall continue to weigh on agricultural production, the Ministry noted, with El Niño conditions expected to develop further over the coming months and add to the pressure on yields.
The expansion builds on a sector roll-out earlier this month, when the AAIB and the Department of Export Agriculture introduced a three-year insurance scheme for coffee growers covering drought, floods, fire and elephant damage. It also follows the enhanced compensation framework for crop damage the AAIB rolled out in May.
Farmers seeking more information have been asked to contact the AAIB head office, any of its 30 district offices, or the dedicated hotline 1918.
The push comes as the Food Security Policy Committee preparedness drive ramps up ahead of an anticipated rainfall deficit in the southwest monsoon period and a wetter October–November stretch.
