Status of cattle insurance in select districts of Karnataka: A micro-economic study

Abstract

Livestock is one of the important productive assets in the rural areas in India which is most prone to many risk and uncertainties. This calls for an effective insurance mechanism for the farmers to cope with the household related shocks. In the view of scanty and sparse research studies on this vital issue, the present study derives the significance. The relevant data was collected from 240 dairy farming households comprising 80 sample households from each of the three districts namely, Kolar, Shivamogga and Dharwad of the Karnataka state were considered for the study. The sample was post-classified into insured and non-insured of cattle insurance. The study employed with descriptive statistics. In the study area, around 41 per cent of the farmers adopted cattle insurance, it was highest in Kolar (66.25 %) followed by Shivamogga (40.00 %) and Dharwad (17.50 %) and covered 18.48 per cent of milch animals, which was highest in Kolar (37.50 %) followed by Shivamogga (14.02 %) and Dharwad (9.46 %) district. The majority of animals insured were crossbreds (86.42 to 87.50 %), followed by buffalo (8.33 to 10.00 %) and indigenous cattle (4.17 to 5.00 %) across the districts. The mortality cases were higher in Shivamogga (42.52 %) but animal insured to total mortality percentage was only 16. 67 per cent. The highest mortality cases indicating high risk were found in crossbreds (41.18 to 92.31 %) followed by indigenous (5.13 to 29.41 %) and buffaloes (2.56 to 29.41 %) across the districts. The claim settled to claim lodge percentage was highest at 91 per cent in Kolar district.