Awareness, Perception and Adoption of Crop Insurance Among Rural Farmers in Karnataka: An Empirical Assessment of Agricultural Risk Protection

Abstract

Agricultural production in Karnataka is exposed to weather variability, crop losses and associated income uncertainties, making crop insurance an important component of agricultural risk protection. Against this background, the present study examines awareness, perception and adoption of crop insurance among rural farmers in Karnataka through a secondary-data-based empirical framework. The analysis synthesizes evidence from official Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) administrative statistics, Government of India parliamentary and policy documents, the Karnataka-specific uptake assessment prepared by the Agricultural Development and Rural Transformation Centre, Institute for Social and Economic Change, and peer-reviewed empirical studies. The analysis focuses on three connected dimensions of agricultural risk protection: awareness of crop-insurance provisions, perception of insurance value and implementation experience, and actual adoption and coverage reflected in administrative enrolment. The evidence indicates that Karnataka has experienced substantial expansion in crop-insurance participation over the PMFBY period, with farmer applications under PMFBY/RWBCIS increasing from 19.45 lakh in 2019–20 to 30.15 lakh in 2023–24, while official data for 2018–19 and 2022–23 show an increase in insured area from 17.41 lakh hectares to 22.52 lakh hectares. Secondary evidence further highlights the importance of farmers’ understanding of premium deductions, coverage conditions and claim procedures in shaping engagement with crop insurance. Perceptions are associated with the visibility of benefits, clarity of procedures, claim settlement experience and institutional communication. The findings establish awareness, perception and adoption as related and analytically distinct dimensions of agricultural risk protection and demonstrate that the effectiveness of crop insurance in Karnataka is associated with both the scale of enrolment and farmers’ understanding and confidence in the insurance process.