Project Basics
Weather Risk Management Services Ltd. (WRMS), a specialist in risk management for weather sensitive industries, seeks to test a weather index insurance package called Comprehensive Agriculture Risk Management (CARM) in two remote districts in India: Howrah in West Bengal and Kamrup in Assam.
The two districts do not have the weather infrastructure required to underwrite weather contracts, disseminate weather information, or provide quality forecasts that allow farmers to take preventative measures to save crops. WRMS proposes installing approximately 50 Automated Weather Stations. WRMS plans to initially introduce a basic weather product for main crops and then provide hybrid solutions to reduce basis risk. WRMS will raise awareness about agricultural risk and insurance solutions amongst farmers and also provide weather data and forecast.
The WRMS project seeks to cover approximately 10,000 farmers in each district over a two-year period. To help communicate with consumers and gather primary information, WRMS has set up hub offices in each district. One local Block Officer manages each block within the district. The Block Officer attends the farmer awareness workshops and meetings, and is responsible for communication with intermediaries.
CARM is delivered through rural banks, NGOs, microfinance institutions, Cooperatives, and contract farming and input firms. Contracts are underwritten by ICICI Lombard and Agriculture Insurance Company. Most of the contracts are subsidized by the respective State. The WRMS project is executed in collaboration with state governments in the hope that the project will be replicated to provide full-scale CARM services in other areas.
Products and Services Offered Under Comprehensive Agriculture Risk Management Program
|
S No. |
Products / Services |
Description |
|
1. |
Agriculture Insurance |
Weather Insurance and Crop Insurance Products |
|
2. |
Information Cards |
Farmers subscribing to information cards get daily SMS and Vernacular voice calls informing them about the weather forecast of the region for next 2 days, actual weather conditions in past 2 days and price of their crop in nearest mandis. |
|
3. |
Automated Irrigation Switch |
A device that can allow farmers to run his/her tubewell remotely through mobile call/SMS. Our irrigation switches are also linked to ambient and soil temperature and rainfall conditions. |
|
4. |
Soil Profilers |
Gives the details of salt and nutrient levels in the soil. Farmers can optimize their fertilizer application based on the details provided by Soil Profiler. |
Date of last Learning Journey update: November 2011