HPlaunches crop insurance scheme

Himachal Pradesh has launched a pilot project to insure the maize, paddy, potato and ginger crops during the kharif season, an official statement said in Shimla on Wednesday and  run under the Rashtriya Krishi Bima Yojna and will insure the crops against loss or damage, the statement added.

The scheme, being implemented by the Agriculture Insurance Corporation of India, is compulsory for farmers who have taken crop loans.

The state government launched an insurance scheme on a pilot basis in 2009 for apple growers in Shimla and Kullu districts.

The economy of the state is highly dependent on agriculture and horticulture. However, about 81 percent of the total cultivated area in the state is rain-fed.