El Nino Crop Damage Compensation: These days, scientists and meteorological departments are continuously warning about El Nino. It is believed that due to its effect, there may be less than normal rainfall in many areas, due to which the risk of damage to Kharif crops has increased. In such a situation, the biggest question in the minds of farmers is that if there is a drought or the crop gets damaged due to weather, then how will the loss be compensated. To reduce this concern of the farmers, the Central Government is running the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme. Under this scheme, financial assistance is given to farmers in case their crops get damaged due to natural disaster, drought, flood, hailstorm or other weather related reasons. So let us know how the government gives compensation even if the crop gets damaged due to El Nino and how the farmers get the benefit.

What is El Nino and why is it a cause of concern for farmers?

El Nino is a weather condition in which the temperature in some parts of the Pacific Ocean increases more than normal. It affects the weather of many countries of the world. During El Nino in India, conditions like less rain, more heat and drought are often seen. If the monsoon weakens, both sowing and production of crops may be affected. This is the reason why the worry of farmers increases as soon as the name of El Nino comes up.

Even if crops get damaged due to El Nino, how does the government provide compensation?

The central government provides compensation under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana for crop damage due to El Niño. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is an important scheme of the Central Government, whose objective is to provide financial security to farmers against crop losses due to natural disasters. If the crop gets damaged due to drought, flood, cyclone, heavy rain, hailstorm or any other natural cause, then the insurance company compensates the farmers as per the prescribed rules. This helps the farmers to come out of the economic crisis. The biggest feature of this scheme is that farmers have to pay very low premium. In this, only 2 percent premium has to be paid for Kharif crops and 1.5 percent premium for Rabi crops. For horticulture and business crops, a maximum premium of 5 percent has to be paid.

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How do farmers get benefits?

If there is damage to the crop due to El Nino or any other natural disaster, the farmer should inform it as soon as possible. According to the rules, information about the loss has to be given within 72 hours. Farmers can give this information to the insurance company, agriculture department or on the toll-free helpline. After receiving the information, the concerned officials inspect the fields and assess the damage. After the report is prepared, the compensation amount is sent directly to the bank accounts of eligible farmers.

How to check the status of your claim?

After filing the crop insurance claim, farmers can also check its status online. For this they will have to go to the website of PM Crop Insurance Scheme. After this the Application Status option has to be selected. Then the application number or receipt number has to be entered and finally the farmer can see the complete details of his claim online.

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