UNDP and Absolute Collaborate to Boost Crop Insurance Scheme (PMFBY) in India

In a significant development aimed at bolstering the Indian agricultural sector, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and bioscience company Absolute have recently joined forces. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), India's flagship crop insurance scheme. By enhancing the resilience of farmers and addressing various challenges faced by the industry, this collaboration seeks to uplift the livelihoods of millions of farmers across the country.

The agricultural landscape in India is often marred by unpredictable weather patterns, pest attacks, erratic rainfall, and humidity, all of which contribute to reduced crop yields and lower incomes for farmers each year. Over the past six years alone, India witnessed the loss of a staggering 33.9 million hectares of cropped area due to floods and excess rains, and another 35 million hectares due to drought.

In light of these challenges, the PMFBY offers crucial risk protection by providing financial support to farmers in the event of crop loss or damage caused by unforeseen events. This stabilization of income encourages farmers to adopt innovative agricultural practices while ensuring the availability of credit to support the agriculture sector's growth, competitiveness, and overall food security.

The collaboration between UNDP India and Absolute aims to enhance the implementation of the PMFBY and the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) by strengthening technical capabilities and digitizing service delivery processes for crop insurance and agricultural credit. This digitalization initiative aims to expand the schemes' reach and encourage their uptake. Furthermore, it will promote credit profiling of farmers, agri-entrepreneurs, and Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs) to accurately assess crop losses and evaluate risks, thereby mobilizing agricultural financing effectively.

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To achieve these goals, UNDP and Absolute plan to leverage advanced technology and data-driven solutions. These will facilitate farmland identification, and enhance farm monitoring, research and development efforts, and analytical capabilities. By utilizing data-driven insights, policymakers will be able to make evidence-based decisions, while fraud analytics will ensure the efficient and transparent delivery of government support to vulnerable farmers.

Agam Khare, Founder & CEO of Absolute, emphasized the growing trend of climate-driven yield losses in agriculture and highlighted the potential impact on over 120 million farmers across India. He expressed his optimism about this partnership, which aligns with Absolute®️'s vision of combining core plant science with technology to reimagine the possibilities in agriculture. Khare believes that empowering farmer communities and building climate resilience are essential steps toward achieving their goals.

Since 2018, UNDP has been collaborating closely with India's Ministry of Agriculture & Family Welfare. In 2022, UNDP's technical support unit at the Ministry made significant strides, reaching out to 1.71 crore farmers through informative campaigns such as Crop Insurance Week and organizing over 2.39 lakh FasalBimaPathshalas, or crop insurance classroom sessions.

Amit Kumar, Head of Sustainable and Inclusive Growth at UNDP India, stressed the importance of addressing risk as a significant barrier to improving the lives of Indian farmer communities. He expressed his belief that this collaboration plays a crucial role in strengthening the risk and credit ecosystem for agriculture in India. Kumar reaffirmed UNDP India's commitment to working closely with the government and partners to empower farmers and enhance their resilience.

This partnership's infusion of technology will not only strengthen the risk management of the agriculture sector but also facilitate a robust credit flow, ultimately reinforcing food security, promoting crop diversification, and enhancing the overall growth and competitiveness of India's agriculture sector.

Absolute, a renowned bioscience company backed by marquee investors such as Sequoia, Tiger Global, and Alpha Wave, aims to leverage billions of years of nature's intelligence to find solutions to humanity's greatest challenges. Through its research and development arm, Xenesis, Absolute leads the way in agriculture, biomaterials, and biocare. With its three core business lines—Upaj (a Universal Digital Ag Platform), Inera (Revolutionary BioabledFarm Inputs), and Silkroute (Digital Agri Trading Platform)—Absolute is at the forefront of reimagining the possibilities in agriculture.

Having actively worked in India since 1951, UNDP collaborates closely with the Government of India and development partners to tackle various aspects of human development. Their efforts encompass eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities, strengthening local governance, enhancing community resilience, protecting the environment, supporting policy initiatives and institutional reforms, and accelerating sustainable development for all.

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