Register for crop insurance before December 1, says T.N. Agriculture Minister

State Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam on Saturday urged farmers who had not insured their crops, which were permitted for insurance till November 30, to register by December 1, and land-owning farmers to immediately obtain their Farmer IDs through the Farmer Registry at e-Sevai centres.

In an official release, he said a compensation of ₹794 crore had been approved for the year 2024–25, of which ₹697 crore had already been credited to the bank accounts of 4 lakh farmers. “The remaining compensation will be directly credited to farmers’ bank accounts once the Union government releases its share of ₹67 crore,” he said.

Mr. Panneerselvam said that the Centre had earlier exempted the mandatory requirement of the Farmer ID for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), a crop insurance scheme implemented for the 2025–26 Kuruvai, Samba, and Navarai crop seasons.

“Under these circumstances, the National Crop Insurance Portal had fixed the enrolment window for Samba paddy insurance from September 2025 to November 15. However, due to continuous rain, the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and related issues, Samba paddy insurance could not be completed on time. Based on the requests from farmers and continued efforts of the Tamil Nadu government, the Centre has extended the deadline to November 30,” he said.

Mr. Panneerselvam added that, “As of now, Samba paddy has been cultivated on 31.33 lakh acres. Of this, 19.06 lakh acres have been insured by 7.95 lakh farmers, amounting to 61% of the total cultivated area. This is 1 lakh acres more than last year. Additionally, during the extended period, 66,000 farmers have insured 1.63 lakh acres of Samba paddy.”