India and UNDP Sign Memorandum of Understanding for Agricultural Credit and Crop Insurance Schemes

Strategic Insights -

The Government of India's Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAandFW) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to improve the implementation of the Centre's aspirational Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) scheme and the Kisan Credit Card -- Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (KCC-MISS). The partnership aims to leverage UNDP's expertise in systems and global know-how to support the Ministry of Agriculture in implementing combined agriculture credit and crop insurance. The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar, who highlighted the benefits of the schemes, including uniform implementation across the country and provisions to cover all crops.

Key Takeaways:

  • The MoU will provide technical support to the Ministry of Agriculture for the implementation of combined agriculture credit and crop insurance, with a focus on small and marginal farmers, women farmers, sharecroppers, tenant and non-loanee farmers.
  • The partnership aims to achieve better results in the implementation of crop insurance and agricultural credit schemes, with technical assistance from UNDP yielding good results in the last 4 years.
  • The PMFBY scheme has provided more than Rs 1.15 lakh crore in compensation to farmers, while the KCC-MISS scheme is being expanded to reach out to all small farmers, livestock farmers, and fishermen.
  • The MoU incorporates several new provisions, including uniform implementation across the country and provisions to cover all crops, to tackle problematic areas of previous schemes.
  • The partnership will provide demand-driven technical assistance, capacity development, and Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) support to existing national and state institutions.

Statistics:

  • The PMFBY scheme has provided more than Rs 1.15 lakh crore to farmers as compensation.
  • Farmers have paid Rs 21,000 crore in premium under the PMFBY scheme.
  • The KCC-MISS scheme aims to provide benefits to all small farmers, livestock farmers, and fishermen.
  • The partnership between the MoAandFW and UNDP has yielded good results in the last 4 years, with technical assistance provided by UNDP.
  • The MoU will benefit small farmers, women farmers, sharecroppers, tenant and non-loanee farmers.

Sources:

  • Government of India's Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAandFW)
  • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)