New Delhi, April 22 -- Punjab, one of the country's main farming states, will finally join the Union government's crop insurance scheme after holding out for nine years.

Punjab's Aam Aadmi Party government is set to formally request for the Union government to roll out the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in the agrarian state, said the state's agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian in a telephone interview.

The reason it has agreed to implement the scheme is the huge losses suffered by farmers due to bad weather and farm fires.

"We are working on the modalities and soon will approach the union government to implement PMFBY in the state. The scheme will not only shield the farmers from vagaries of weather but also from unfo...