evidence: This key sector faces multiple challenges and is extremely susceptible to natural calamities such as droughts, floods and locust infestation. During the past five decades, successive governments have tried to protect farmers’ interests by providing them with protection from these natural calamities (see Figure 1). However, it was with 2016’s nationwide introduction of two indemnity and parametric-based coverages – the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme, known as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), and the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) – that crop insurance in India underwent significant changes. [...] PMFBY is an area-based yield-index insurance scheme. It dominates the crop insurance scenario, accounting for nearly 90% of premium. It is designed to provide comprehensive insurance cover against crop failure, provide income stability, and encourage digitisation and innovation. It covers all food crops, oilseeds and annual commercial and horticultural crops grown in the rabi (winter) and kharif (monsoon) seasons. The scheme is implemented by central and state government agencies and insurance companies, which are empaneled based on their experience and financial strength. [...] RWBCIS constitutes around 8%–10% of the crop insurance portfolio. The structure of farmers’ premia, selection criteria of the insurance company and area allocation are similar to PMFBY. The claim settlement will be based on predefined terms drawn from weather parameters. Horticulture crops such as vegetables and fruits, or other crops where ascertaining crop yield through conduct of CCEs is not possible, are commonly insured under this policy.