New insurance scheme for AP farmers

Hyderabad, Jun 11 (UNI) For the first time in the country, a comprehensive insurance scheme with village as unit to assess crop loss will be implemented in Andhra Pradesh during this Khariff season.

Fulfilling a longstanding demand of the farmers, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy after releasing an integrated action plan for boosting agricultural production during 2008-09, announced that even those farmers who had no bank loans could subscribe to the improvised scheme.

Explaining the salient features of the scheme, he said major crops in each district would be covered under the scheme with village as the unit for assessment of crop loss.

The Chief Minister told reporters that those farmers, who had opted out of the insurance scheme with mandal as unit to assess crop loss, could subscribe to the scheme.

While groundnut growers in Anantapur district got their claims worth Rs 376 crore settled during 2006-07, some of their counterparts in Guntur district in Coastal region had not insured their crops and them to cyclone fury, he said and exhorted all farmers to subscribe to the scheme.

UNI SM VV RL BST1625