PMFBY expanded to cover crop losses from Wild Animals and Waterlogging

The Centre has expanded the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to include compensation for crop losses caused by wild animal attacks and waterlogging due to excessive rainfall, a reform set to take effect from the Kharif 2026 season. Announcing the decision, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said this change fulfills a long-standing demand from farmers, especially those in wildlife-prone and flood-affected regions. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for approving the proposal and said the move strengthens the crop insurance safety net.

Under the revised policy, damage due to wild animals has been classified as a new add-on risk under “localised disaster,” while waterlogging and flooding will be reintroduced for paddy crops in low-lying, monsoon-hit and coastal regions. Farmers will now be able to report such losses using the Crop Insurance App, with a 72-hour deadline to upload geo-tagged photographs for assessment. The decision is expected to benefit farmers in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and several coastal and northeastern regions where crop damage from wild animals or excess rain is a recurring problem.

Officials said the policy changes were approved after expert committee recommendations and are designed to be scientifically verifiable and operationally feasible. States will decide the wild animal species to be covered based on historical data, while clear guidelines will be issued to identify vulnerable districts. The Agriculture Ministry also emphasized the importance of timely enrollment under PMFBY and urged farmers to make full use of the updated insurance benefits.

The move aims to make the flagship crop insurance scheme more inclusive, with the goal of protecting every crop and securing every farmer against unpredictable, localised natural and wildlife-related threats.