Weather insurance pilot project started
Sivaganga:The Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited has introduced a weather insurance pilot project in the district.The Collector, M.A. Siddique, said the main objective of the scheme was to protect farmers in the event of damage to their crops, owing to insufficient rainfall.According to the guidelines, claim settlements will be determined based on the rainfall records of India Meteorological Department. August 25th is the last date for enrolling in the scheme. Interested farmers should pay Rs.381 per acre. They should take a Demand Draft in favour of Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd, UTI Bank A/c No.006010200018027 payable in Chennai. The DDs should be handed over to the agents concerned.Mr. Siddique said rainfed farmers, who had planned to raise paddy in the forthcoming monsoon period, could benefit under the pilot project. Claims would be settled within 30 days after the insurance period.As of now, rain gauge station at Thondi, which was manned by IMD, would be taken as a base for calculating the amount of rainfall. In future, efforts would be made to increase the number of authenticated weather stations to extend justifiable coverage to all farmers of the district.He said farmers could contact Assistant Directors of Agriculture, Agriculture Officers, Agriculture Development Officers to get more details.
