The agricultural landscape of Vidarbha has long been marked by recurring risks of drought, erratic rainfall, and pest infestations that directly affect crop productivity.

For farmers in this region, insurance-backed schemes provide a structured safety net against these uncertainties.

The government of India and the state of Maharashtra have designed multiple frameworks to help cultivators secure themselves against losses. These schemes combine central subsidies, state-specific adjustments, and mechanisms for quick relief.

The policies are not uniform across the country and often undergo annual revisions that directly influence their application in Vidarbha. Farmers are required to enrol within strict seasonal timelines and must adhere to documentation procedures to benefit from these schemes. The following account details four such government-backed avenues available to farmers for crop loss protection.

1. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana remains the flagship insurance scheme covering crop losses across India. For farmers in Vidarbha, this scheme applies to a wide range of crops, including cotton, soybean, paddy, and pulses. The coverage is extensive, including sowing risks, mid-season adversity, natural calamities, pest attacks, and diseases. A unique feature of this scheme is its provision for post-harvest losses, where compensation is granted for crops kept “cut and spread” in the field for up to fourteen days if damaged by unseasonal rainfall or cyclonic activity.

Premium rates are fixed at two percent of the sum insured for Kharif food and oilseed crops, one and a half percent for Rabi food and oilseeds, and five percent for annual commercial and horticulture crops. The difference between these capped rates and the actuarial premium is subsidised by the government. Farmers can enrol through banks, Common Service Centres, or the official pmfby.gov.in portal.

From Kharif 2025 onwards, the government has mandated that enrolment must be linked to an AgriStack Farmer ID, which has made identification more streamlined. In Maharashtra, recent revisions have discontinued the one-rupee premium variant, reverting to the standard shared-premium structure. This shift directly impacts affordability but ensures continuity of the scheme under national rules.

2. Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)

The Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme provides an alternative model where payouts are triggered by weather indices rather than field-level assessment. In Vidarbha, this is significant because crop losses frequently occur due to erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells, or excessive heat. Under RWBCIS, data from weather stations determines compensation, making the process faster and less dependent on lengthy surveys.

This scheme is particularly relevant to horticultural crops grown in parts of Vidarbha, such as oranges in Nagpur and Amravati districts.

Farmers are insured against specific parameters like excess or deficit rainfall, temperature variations, humidity fluctuations, and wind speed beyond certain thresholds. The enrolment process is the same as PMFBY, but payouts are automatic once the weather data crosses the set benchmarks. The Union Cabinet has extended this scheme along with PMFBY up to 2025-26. As with PMFBY, enrolment from Kharif 2025 onwards also requires an AgriStack Farmer ID. Farmers in notified districts must keep track of official circulars each season to confirm whether their crops are included under RWBCIS or PMFBY.

3. Maharashtra’s Revised Implementation for 2025-26

In June 2025, the Government of Maharashtra issued a resolution revising its implementation of PMFBY for Kharif 2025 and Rabi 2025-26. Under this framework, district-level insurers have been designated, with the Agriculture Insurance Company of India and ICICI Lombard appointed for specific areas. For example, Raigad district has been placed under the coverage of AIC, and similar assignments apply to other districts in Vidarbha.

This state-level restructuring means farmers must identify the exact insurer allotted to their district before enrolling. The system is designed to avoid delays and confusion during claim settlements.

Another important adjustment announced in 2025 relates to advance payments. While the national PMFBY rules continue to cover mid-season adversity and localised calamities, Maharashtra has removed these events from the list of conditions eligible for advance relief. This means farmers may still claim compensation for these perils, but the payouts will be processed only after the seasonal yield results are declared. Such modifications make it necessary for farmers in Vidarbha to pay close attention to the specific rules of the season, as state-level changes directly affect how and when compensation is provided.

4. Compensation under SDRF and NDRF Norms

Apart from insurance schemes, farmers in Vidarbha can also seek relief through the State Disaster Response Fund and the National Disaster Response Fund. This mechanism is not technically an insurance scheme but a form of compensation for crop losses following officially declared disasters. Assistance is provided when crop damage exceeds thirty-three percent of the cultivated area.

The compensation process requires panchanamas, or official surveys, conducted by the district administration. Relief funds are then disbursed as input subsidies to help farmers recover part of their losses. These payments are guided by national norms issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Disaster Management Authority.

In recent years, Maharashtra has continued to make such payouts in districts affected by heavy rainfall and floods. For Vidarbha, where seasonal weather fluctuations often lead to large-scale crop damage, this remains a vital fallback. However, it is dependent on government notification of calamity and subsequent administrative procedures rather than farmer-driven enrolment.

The framework of crop insurance and relief available to farmers in Vidarbha consists of a mix of national programmes and state-specific modifications. Farmers must navigate the official procedures, enrolment timelines, and insurer assignments to secure coverage each season. At the same time, disaster compensation provides an additional channel of relief, though it relies heavily on administrative certification.

Together, these four avenues form the core safety net for cultivators in this region. They underline the extent of formal mechanisms that exist to address agricultural risks, even though their impact is influenced by local governance, timely enrolment, and seasonal notifications. Farmers in Vidarbha operate in a landscape where understanding these programmes is as important as the crops they cultivate, as participation in them determines the extent of protection they receive against the unpredictability of agriculture.