The Union Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has announced significant decisions aimed at supporting the agricultural sector. These measures, focused on fertiliser subsidies and crop insurance, are designed to ensure affordability and risk coverage for farmers across India.
The Cabinet has approved the extension of a special package for Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertiliser beyond the existing Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme.
This decision ensures that DAP fertiliser will continue to be available to farmers at affordable prices, despite volatile global markets.
The special package, which will be implemented from 1 January 2025, involves a subsidy of ₹3,500 per metric tonne, with an estimated financial outlay of ₹3,850 crore.
The government’s commitment to keeping fertiliser prices stable has been evident despite geopolitical challenges and market fluctuations. This latest decision follows an earlier approval in July 2024, where a similar package was sanctioned for the period between April and December 2024.
With this extension, the total financial outlay for DAP subsidies since April 2024 will exceed ₹6,475 crore. These measures are aimed at securing the welfare of farmers during the Kharif and Rabi crop seasons of 2024-25.
The government’s efforts to subsidise phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers have been in place since 2010 under the NBS scheme. By providing 28 grades of P&K fertilisers at subsidised rates, the government seeks to make these essential inputs affordable for farmers while ensuring a steady supply.
In addition to fertiliser subsidies, the Cabinet has approved modifications to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS).
These crop insurance schemes, extended until 2025-26, aim to protect farmers from risks arising from natural calamities. An allocation of ₹69,515.71 crore has been made for their continuation from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
To enhance the transparency and efficiency of the crop insurance schemes, a Fund for Innovation and Technology (FIAT) has been established.
With a corpus of ₹824.77 crore, this fund will support the adoption of advanced technologies such as the Yield Estimation System using Technology (YES-TECH) and the Weather Information and Network Data Systems (WINDS).
YES-TECH utilises remote sensing technology to estimate crop yields, integrating at least 30 per cent of technology-based data into calculations.
Nine major states, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, have already adopted this system, with Madhya Pradesh fully transitioning to technology-based yield estimation.
This initiative aims to phase out traditional methods like Crop Cutting Experiments, streamlining claim calculations and settlements.
WINDS focuses on establishing Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) at the block level and Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs) at the panchayat level.
By increasing the density of weather monitoring networks fivefold, WINDS seeks to provide hyper-local weather data for more accurate risk assessments. States such as Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, and Odisha are in the process of implementing this initiative.
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