Prajna Capital - An Investment Guide

The Iffco-Tokio General Insurance Company has introduced Barsha Bima Yojana ( BBY ), a weather insurance policy, for the Orissa farmers during the current kharif season. The scheme has been launched in five districts of the state on a pilot basis. The districts are Ganjam, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Khurda and Nayagarh. “We will extend the policy to other districts subsequently based on the response from farmers”, said A K Mishra, the Orissa state head of the private general insurance company. Describing BBY as an index-based weather insurance product, he said, it provided protection to farmers against anticipated crop loss due to either excess or deficiency of rainfall depending upon the geographical locations, weather conditions and crop requirements of a specific region. The prominent feature of the product is that it is not linked to the declaration of drought or flood by the government. The insurance claims will be calculated on the basis of the rainfall data recorded at the weather sta...