Abstract

Weather based crop insurance scheme (WBCIS) products proposed by four insurance providers were compared and evaluated using historical weather data for piloting WBCIS on kharif maize in Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Theni, Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar districts of Tamil Nadu. Productivity of maize is limited by rainfall than by any other weather parameters. Water deficit in different phenological stages viz., vegetative, reproductive and maturity stages had differential impact on the productivity. The strike occurrence was higher for Virudhunagar district compared to Dharmapuri district of AIC. Though the occurrence of strike events were more for phase one of Deficit Rainfall Cover, the rate per mm of rainfall fixed by IFFCO-TOKYO Company was low. The product designed for HDFC-ERGO and MS Cholamandalam was similar while the product for AIC and IFFCO-TOKYO was designed with little variation in context to excess rainfall cover and consecutive dry days. The compensation benefit realized by the farmer of Theni was higher followed by Virudhunagar, since the design for dry days index and rate per mm of rainfall was higher which favoured farmer’s benefit.

Keywords: Insurance companies, product design, strike events, payout, maize