Development, present status and performance analysis of agriculture insurance schemes in India: Review of evidence

Abstract

Purpose

Agriculture insurance is the panacea for the farming community. Many policy interventions were implemented for stimulating agriculture insurance access to farmers in India. However, access to agriculture insurance constantly remained one of the major challenges to Indian policy planners. The goal of the present paper is to explore current policy interventions in the area of agriculture insurance in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The present paper reviews and analyzes the evidence literature through a content analysis method on development and performance analysis perspective of existing agriculture insurance schemes in India.

Findings

Agriculture insurance is a significant risk management policy, but this is not easily reachable to the majority of farmers in India. The government of India introduces a novel agriculture scheme every decade, but every crop insurance scheme was inconsistent and ineffective owing to operational defects. Agriculture insurance in India is still developing in terms of coverage, scope, and exposure, but farmers' dissatisfaction about agriculture insurance turned out to be a negative word of mouth. Insurance illiteracy and farmers' preference for agriculture relief payments are the main reasons for limited access to agriculture insurance. The current crop insurance schemes are improperly operated because of implementation issues at the state level.

Research limitations/implications

This paper will be useful for researchers and academicians to analyze the past and present status of crop insurance in India.

Originality/value

The paper is the unique work of the authors as it has attempted to present India's journey with agriculture insurance. An effort is made in the present study to provide a comprehensive and holistic developmental and performance analysis perspective of agriculture insurance in India.

Citation

Singh, P. and Agrawal, G. (2020), "Development, present status and performance analysis of agriculture insurance schemes in India: Review of evidence", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 47 No. 4, pp. 461-481. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-02-2019-0119