In order to give cover on earnings expected from crop yield, the government plans to introduce Farm Income Insurance (FII) scheme. The Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh stated that it would provide soil health cards to all farmers in the country which would inform them about strengths and weakness of their farm soil.
The Ministry is of the view that only subsidy cannot ensure farmers’ income. The idea of income-based agriculture scheme is an outcome of Gujarat state at time when some states have opted to implement the old National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) while some opted to implement a modified NAIS.
The Government of India introduced NAIS in 1999 which operates on the basis of area-based crop insurance to protect farmers against unavoidable perils like drought, heat, insects and others.