Thursday, October 17, 2013

United India to offer agro-forestry insurance in Tamil Nadu

Here's an encouraging news for farmers cultivating trees for commercial purposes in Tamil Nadu. The Forest College and Research Institute (FCRI) has tied-up with public sector insurance giant United India Insurance to provide agro-forestry insurance to farmers growing commercial trees.

The scheme - Agro forestry Plantation Insurance, was rolled out by Mrs. Santha Sheela Nair, the Vice-Chairperson of the State Planning Commission, Government of Tamil Nadu, on Thursday at FCRI, Mettupalayam.

Initially, the insurance scheme will cover only seven species of tree namely - Casuarina, Eucalyptus (Pulpwood), Melia Dubia (Plywood), Ailanthus, Gmelina (Matchwood), Leucaena and Dalbergia Sissoo (Indian Rosewood), as these trees are widely cultivated across the state.

In a release of FCRI, the Dean (Forestry) P. Durairasu said that the FCRI worked with the insure to develop a scheme to cover tree crops, in view of the fact that the existing crop insurance scheme did not cover tree crops.

The insurance scheme will cover perils such as forest and bush fire, lightning, riot and strike, storm, cyclone, flood inundation and loss due to wild animals, said Durairasu, adding, the premium rate for basic plan will be 1.25% of the input cost. The premium for a land of one acre plantation will range between Rs. 300 to Rs. 600, depending upon the species of the tree and input cost. The farmers will get compensation as per input cost in case of damage to the trees due to any of the mentioned perils.

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