Performance of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in Tamil Nadu, India during the Rabi Season: A Time-Series Analysis
- Arun Venkatesh D Department of Economics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India
-
Natarajamurthy P
*
Professor, Department of Economics, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu,
India
Abstract
The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is an agricultural risk-management programme that seeks to protect farmers financially against crop losses. This study assesses the performance of PMFBY in Tamil Nadu during the Rabi season from 2018 to 2025 using state-level administrative data. It considers farmer participation, insurance coverage, premium contributions, claim settlement and the distribution of applicants across social and farmer categories. Participation rose considerably until 2022, when the number of applicants reached 61.42 lakh, before falling in the following years. Non-loanee applicants remained the largest participant group throughout the period and accounted for 92.40 per cent of applicants in 2025. The insured area rose from 1,374.52 thousand hectares in 2018 to 1,541.43 thousand hectares in 2022, its highest level during the period, while the sum insured was highest in 2021 at ₹9,98,426.80 lakh. Premium contributions also reached their highest level in 2022 at ₹2,96,624.23 lakh and then fell markedly in the following years. Claim settlement showed substantial variation, with the claim ratio standing at 30.03 per cent in 2018 and 27.60 per cent in 2020 before falling to 2.08 per cent in 2025. Applicants were concentrated mainly in the OBC and General categories, while small farmers formed the largest group among the farmer categories. A paired sample t-test gave a p-value of 0.105, showing no statistically significant difference between total premium collected and total claims paid during the study period. PMFBY maintained substantial insurance coverage in Tamil Nadu, although participation, premium mobilisation and claim settlement varied considerably from year to year during the Rabi season.
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