The nation’s first crop insurance is to be launched in November to protect farmers against losses due to natural disasters with grafted pear to be the first insurable crop.
The Council of Agriculture said that Fubon Insurance Co had formulated two types of crop insurance policies specially designed for grafted pears, with the policies approved by the Financial Supervisory Commission this month.
A multi-peril crop policy that is bundled with government disaster assistance would cover damage caused by typhoons, torrential rain or hail, Fubon said.
Premiums are to range from NT$30,000 to NT$50,000 (US$901 to US$1,502) per hectare and the coverage would be from NT$90,000 to NT$150,000 per hectare, the company said.
Meanwhile, a full coverage insurance policy would cover damage caused by typhoons or torrential rain, while an extra crop-hail insurance could be added at an additional cost, with the premium of a combined package ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$90,000 per hectare and coverage between NT$280,000 and NT$400,00 per hectare, the company said.
Usually planted in October, and harvested in August and September, grafted pears are commonly grown in Taichung, as well as Miaoli, Hsinchu, Chiayi and Yilan counties, and so the policies are limited to farms in those municipalities, the company said.
The council said it would subsidize one-third of the premiums to include more farmers in the insurance system.
The crop insurance was developed amid repeated calls for a risk management mechanism in the agriculture sector following Typhoon Soudelor last month, which caused NT$3.15 billion in agricultural losses, the council said, adding that more valuable cash crops would be included in the insurance system in the future.
The government’s disaster relief system would remain unchanged even with the implementation of the crop insurance by private insurers, the council said.
The nation’s crop farms are geographically centralized and harvest seasons are concentrated, boosting the damage potential of a large-scale disaster and the need for crop insurance, the council said.
A more inclusive crop insurance would be on the government’s priority agenda, the council said, adding that it would draft an insurance framework for farm facilities and expand coverage to damage caused by natural disasters by April next year when the annual flood period starts.
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