Key highlights
India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is undergoing a major transformation in 2025 with the full-scale rollout of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data tools to tackle age-old challenges in crop insurance—delays, disputes, and unreliable loss assessment. The reform aims to deliver fairer, faster, and more transparent compensation to millions of farmers, while building financial resilience across India’s fragmented farmlands.
Next-Gen Technologies Take Root
The government has launched the AI-powered CROPIC initiative for real-time monitoring and loss assessment, debuting in 50 diverse districts with plans for national coverage by 2026. Farmers now upload photos of their fields via a mobile app; AI-driven cloud platforms analyze these images for signs of damage, pest attack, weather impact, or disease, delivering instant insights to farmers and officials alike.
Satellite imagery from ISRO’s Resourcesat and Cartosat, along with remote sensing and deep-learning tools, enables accurate estimation of yield and risk across wide areas, even on small, scattered holdings. Early pilots in states like Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh have already shown improved yield prediction, higher profits, and reduced manual errors.
Faster, Fairer, and More Transparent Claims
Computer vision technologies—using models like SVM, Random Forest, Neural Networks, and XGBoost—automate the identification of crop losses, replacing slow, often-biased field inspections. Automated dashboards give farmers real-time claim status, while the new Krishi Rakshak Portal and dedicated helplines streamline grievance redressal.
The Ministry of Agriculture, ISRO, and expert tech councils lead capacity-building workshops, training state officials to deploy these models and interpret results accurately.
Structural Strength and National Support
Backed by ₹825 crore from the Fund for Innovation and Technology, this digital leap is underwritten for scalable growth and robust integration.
The scheme, extended through 2026 with a ₹69,515.71 crore outlay, now stands as the world’s largest crop insurance network, empowering over 150 million Indian farmers.
Looking Forward
With automation, satellite data, and AI at its core, India’s Fasal Bima Yojana is set to deliver smarter risk protection—addressing climate shocks, ensuring timely payouts, and rebuilding trust in agriculture’s crucial safety net.
Sources: KhetiVyapar, Notopedia, TheNewsDirt
