Prabha Jagannathan MANAGING agricultural risk is an important ingredient in building the beyond the monsoons infrastructure. Pilots for the Weather-based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) were implemented in selected areas in Karnataka state (70 hoblies). It was meant to be extended to other states, based on the success of the pilots. When the Budget 2008 came around, the FM ducked the question, refusing to be pinned down either on the WBCIS or the imperative amendments to the existing, and rather flawed, National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS), implemented since the Rabi 2000 season. However, the government maintained early this month that it was "pre-mature' to make a formal evaluation of the WBCIS "in view of the limited experience of its implementation in one crop season'. The pilot WBCIS (earlier proposed to be implemented in 12 states during the current season) was continued in 2007-08 with greater coverage in terms of areas/ crops. Two private insurers