Srinagar, May 23: Minister for Agriculture Production and Rural Development Javid Ahmad Dar today said the Government will implement a weather-based crop insurance scheme within one month to safeguard orchardists and farmers against losses caused by adverse weather conditions.The Minister made the announcement during his visit to hailstorm-affected areas of Rafiabad and adjoining regions in north Kashmir, where widespread damage has been reported to orchards and standing crops following continuous rains and repeated hailstorms across Kashmir and parts of Jammu.
Amid growing concerns over weather-induced losses to the horticulture and agriculture sectors, Dar was on an extensive tour of hailstorm-affected areas to assess the damage caused to crops and orchards.
The Minister interacted with farmers, orchardists and local residents, who apprised him of the scale of losses incurred and sought immediate Government intervention.
Expressing concern over the hardships faced by the farming community, Dar assured the affected families that the Government remains fully committed to supporting them during this challenging period.
“The welfare of farmers remains the Government’s top priority. Every possible support will be provided to mitigate the losses suffered by the affected growers,” he said while interacting with locals.
Dar said the bidding process for the crop insurance scheme would open on June 1 and was expected to be completed within a month.
He said the Government has already made budgetary provisions for the premium, which will be jointly shared by the J&K Government, the Centre and farmers.
He said the scheme would cover apple and saffron crops in Kashmir, besides selected crops from Jammu.
According to the Minister , the proposed insurance model is different from the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana as it is specifically designed as a weather-based crop insurance scheme.
Dar said efforts to implement the scheme had been underway for some time, but changes in policy guidelines communicated by the Government of India last year delayed the process and necessitated a revision of the policy framework.
Referring to the recent weather-related damage, the Minister said assessments were currently underway and relief to affected growers would be provided under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) once the survey process is completed.
He directed officers of the Agriculture and Horticulture Departments to immediately undertake a comprehensive field survey and submit a detailed assessment report at the earliest to facilitate timely compensation and relief measures.
Highlighting the increasing vulnerability of the agriculture sector to extreme weather events, Dar emphasized the importance of strengthening crop protection infrastructure and improving disaster response mechanisms to minimise future losses.
He also said the J&K Government was in touch with the Government of India on various welfare measures for farmers and orchardists.
Senior officers who accompanied the Minister during the visit included Director Horticulture Kashmir Vikas Anand, Deputy Director Agriculture Kashmir and other officials from the concerned departments.
Fruit mandi president Fayaz Ahmad Malik was also present and projected various demands of fruit growers before the Minister , including implementation of crop insurance, MIS and relief under Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loans for affected orchardists and farmers.
