The crop loss due to Wild Animal Attacks and Paddy Inundation will now be covered under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ministry said that under the revised framework, crop loss due to wild animal attack will now be recognised as the fifth add-on Cover under the Localised Risk category, while, Paddy inundation reintroduced under localised calamity. The Ministry said, States will notify the list of wild animals responsible for crop damage and identify vulnerable districts or insurance units based on historical data. It said that farmers will be required to report losses within 72 hours using the Crop Insurance App by uploading geotagged photographs. The decision will be rolled out from Kharif 2026.

For years, farmers across the country have suffered increasing crop losses due to attacks by wild animals such as elephants, wild boars, nilgai, deer, and monkeys. These incidents are particularly common in regions situated near forests, wildlife corridors, and hilly terrains. Until now, such losses often went uncompensated as they were not covered under crop insurance. At the same time, paddy farmers in flood-prone and coastal States have been repeatedly affected by inundation during heavy rains and overflowing waterways. This coverage is expected to significantly benefit farmers in States with high human-wildlife conflict. These states include Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, as well as the Himalayan and North-Eastern States such as Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh. Reintroducing Paddy Inundation as a Localised Calamity Cover under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana will especially benefit farmers in coastal and flood-prone States.