Under the scheme farmers will have to pay a uniform premium of
- 2% for all kharif crops
- 1.5% for all Rabi crops
- For annual commercial and horticultural crops, farmers will have to pay a premium of 5 %.
- The remaining share of the premium will be borne equally by the Centre and the respective state governments.
- The PMFBY replaces two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as the Modified NAIS.
- There will no upper limit on government subsidy and even if balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the government.
- Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low claims being paid to farmers.
- It is compulsory for farmers availing crop loans for notified crops in notified areas and voluntary for non-loanee farmers.
- Use of technology will be encouraged to a great extent.
- Smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers.
- Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.
- Farm level assessment for localised calamities including hailstorms, unseasonal rains, landslides and inundation.