Evaluation of the Role of Micro and Crop Insurance Products in the Development of Farmers of Bhandara District of Maharashtra

Abstract

Micro-insurance plays a significant role in rural development by providing financial protection to low-income individuals and communities in rural areas. Micro-insurance helps mitigate risks, such as crop failure, livestock mortality, health emergencies, and natural disasters, faced by the rural population. By providing insurance coverage against these risks, micro-insurance ensures that rural households are not pushed further into poverty due to unexpected events. However, often the financial systems that are in place do not function promptly and efficiently so that the intended beneficiaries are unable to avail the benefits of various micro-insurance and crop insurance products. This has been and continues to be the situation in many regions of India, and Bhandara District of Maharashtra State is not an exception. Hence, this study was carried out to determine the role of micro and crop insurance products with respect to the development of farmers of Bhandara District adopting the standard research methodology. The descriptive research design and survey methodologies were used to collect data from insurance agents working in the study area. The data meticulously collected was studiously analyzed using various statistical tests with the aid of SPSS 18.0 software. The results indicated that most of the insurance agents in the area work with both government and private insurance companies and prefer to provide information (about micro-insurance and crop insurance products) to the farmers through personal interactions. The results also indicated that most of the farmers of the selected study region have favorable attitude towards micro and crop insurance products. Though micro-insurance and crop insurance have provided the farmers some financial stability, their premium payments are often irregular. Most of the respondents revealed that the currently available micro and crop insurance products are sufficient to mitigate the manifold risks faced by the farmers only up to a limited extent.