India's crop insurance leaves vulnerable farmers exposed

After years of low rainfall devastating soya bean crops on his central Indian farm, Dileep Patidar last year planted the pulse urad as it needs less water and he counted on the government's crop insurance scheme to cover him if it did not work out.

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But the gamble failed and he lost nearly half his crop. Then the insurance money never came.

"I last received an insurance payout in 2019, and I've lost crops to low rainfall almost every year since then," said 49-year-old Patidar, who farms five hectares in the Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh.

The Indian government runs the world's largest agriculture crop insurance scheme, subsidising insurance to reduce farmers' premiums.

But an analysis by the Indian think tank, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said farmers living in climate-vulnerable districts like Mandsaur faced higher premiums, had lower levels of insurance cover and received lower payouts compared to farmers in lower-risk districts.

This undermines the purpose of a scheme that could be a crucial tool in building farmers' resilience, the analysis said.

Climate change is increasingly impacting India's crops, with more than 4 million hectares affected by extreme weather events in 2024, nearly double the previous year, according to India's Atlas of Disasters, maintained by Centre for Science and Environment.