A Keen Study of Crop Insurance Under WBCIS in Devgad Tehsil

Devgad is a coastal tehsil in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. It is recognized for its special mango variety, Devgad Alphonso mango and cashew production. The fruit crops are highly vulnerable to climatic changes. Building resilience to weather extremes is of utmost importance to farmers. Extreme weather conditions which are intolerable by the crops especially during flowering and fruiting period could adversely affect the yield. The crop insurance is a potentially more effective risk-shifting mechanism to give protections to farmers. In this study, the current status to examine the extent of revenue circle wise coverage of insurance and analyse the performance of crop insurance scheme restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) in Devgad tehsil of Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra is discussed. Brief but comprehensive details about the WBCIS are mentioned in the paper. Based on the secondary data and interviews agents of insurance providing company, the analysis of the performance of the WBCIS in Devgad tehsil is done and reported in the paper. Though the overall functioning of WBCIS in Devgad appears to be encouraging and positive, steps are required to reduce the gender disparity in farmers enrolment and the reach out to as many farmers to make them benefit from the scheme.