United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Absolute, a bioscience company, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and enhance the resilience of farmers.

According to a statement, the partnership between UNDP India and Absolute aims to enhance the implementation of the PMFBY and the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) by building technical capabilities of the scheme and digitalising service delivery of crop insurance and agricultural credit processes to increase reach and uptake of the schemes.

It will also promote credit profiling of farmers, agri-entrepreneurs, and farmer producers organisations (FPOs), for accurate crop loss assessment and risk evaluation to mobilise agriculture financing.

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UNDP and Absolute will also use advanced technology and data-driven solutions to facilitate farmland identification and enhance farm monitoring, research and development, and analytical capabilities to facilitate data-driven policymaking and fraud analytics, ensuring efficient and transparent delivery of government support to vulnerable farmers, it said.

Impact on 120 million farmers

Quoting Agam Khare, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Absolute, the statement said: “We are witnessing an increasing trend of climate-driven yield losses in agriculture. This partnership with UNDP is a strong step forward in mitigating this increasing risk pattern which can potentially impact over 120 million farmers across the country.

This initiative is in line with our vision to reimagine what is possible in agriculture by intersecting core plant science with technology. This will help us move one step closer to achieve our goal of empowering farmer communities and making agriculture climate resilient.”

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Amit Kumar, Head, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, UNDP India, said risk is an inherent part of agriculture and is one of the biggest roadblocks in improving the lives of farmer communities in India. “This collaboration is an important step towards strengthening the risk and credit ecosystem for agriculture in India. UNDP India is committed to working with the Government and partners to help farmers in India rise with resilience,” he said.

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