Financial Inclusion and Insurance: A Case of Crop Insurance
摘要
This chapter examines the third important aspect of financial inclusion—insurance, an ex-ante risk management tool for households. While insurance helps individuals cope with emergencies such as illness, accidents, crop failures, and loss of income, overall access to insurance in India remains limited, especially in rural areas. This chapter focuses on crop insurance in India given its critical role in improving the lives of low-income agricultural households. We use data from the 70th and 77th Rounds of the NSSO-Situation Assessment Survey for the analysis. The chapter compares crop insurance adoption before and after the introduction of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), highlighting trends and assessing the scheme’s effectiveness. It further examines the role of awareness and information channels in influencing adoption, using econometric analysis while also identifying other key factors shaping access to crop insurance. The findings contribute to understanding the persistent barriers to insurance adoption and offer insights for strengthening programmes for improving crop insurance coverage in rural India.