The objectives of the NAIS are as under:-

1. To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases.

2. To encourage the farmers to adopt progressive farming practices, high value in-puts and higher technology in Agriculture.

3. To help stabilise farm incomes, particularly in disaster years.

•   NAIS envisages coverage of all food crops (cereals and pulses), oilseeds, horticultural and commercial crops. It covers all farmers, both loanees and non-loanees, under the scheme.

•   The Kisan Credit Card scheme is a Government of India scheme which provides farmers with timely access to credit. The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was launched in 1998 with the aim of providing short-term formal credit to farmers and was created by NABARD.

•   The KCC scheme was introduced to ensure that the credit requirements for farmers in the agriculture, fisheries and animal husbandry sector were being met. This was done by helping them avail short-term loans and provide them with a credit limit to purchase equipment and for their other expenses as well.

•   With the help of KCC, farmers are exempt from the high interest rates of the regular loans offered by banks as the interest rate for KCC starts as low as 2% and averages at 4%.

Features:

•   Farmers can take out a loan of up to Rs.3 lakh and also avail produce marketing loans.

•   Insurance coverage for KCC scheme holders up to Rs.50,000 in the case of permanent disability or death. A cover of Rs.25,000 is given in the case of other risks.

•   Eligible farmers will be issued a savings account with attractive interest rate along with smart card and a debit card in addition to the Kisan Credit Card.

•   Flexible repayment options and hassle-free disbursement procedure.

•   No collateral will be required for loans amounting up to Rs.1.60 lakh.

Eligibility:

•   Any individual farmer who is an owner-cultivator.

•   People who belongs to a group and are joint borrowers. The group has to be owner-cultivators.

•   Sharecroppers, tenant farmers, or an oral lessee are eligible for the KCC.

•   Self-help groups (SHG) or joint liability groups (JLG) of sharecroppers, farmers, tenant farmers, etc.

•   Farmers involved in the production of crop or allied activities such as animal husbandry along with non-farm activities such as fishermen.