IRRI, PhilRice, PCIC partner for new rice crop insurance

MANILA, Philippines — The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) have teamed up to develop an area-based yield index insurance for rice based on satellite data to help Filipino farmers be resilient to climate risks.

The IRRI-PhilRice-PCIC tripartite partnership – formalized through a memorandum of agreement signed during the 6th International Rice Congress yesterday – will bring innovative crop insurance products to improve the resilience of Filipino farmers to climatic risks.

The agreement seeks to help make crop insurance products available to some 2.4 million rice farmers in the Philippines who constantly have to face the risks of losing their yields to calamities such as tropical cyclones, droughts, and floods.

“Basically, the challenge now…from the perspective of the farmers is [how to] disperse information. I think there’s still a limited number of farmers that have been reached by information to help them understand the importance of agricultural insurance as well as the benefits of agricultural insurance,” PCIC vice president for risk management office Sem Cordial said in a briefing.

On average, the country experiences around 20 cyclones every year, with at least eight making landfalls. Climate change also poses a significant threat as it makes the impact of calamities like floods and droughts more severe.

“This partnership is a step toward making insurance protection available to Filipino farmers at a crucial time when we are facing severe weather challenges such as droughts and floods, intensified by climate change. We welcome this collaboration as it aligns with our mission to improve the well-being of rice-farming communities in the country,” PhilRice executive director John de Leon said.

The partnership builds upon an earlier collaboration between IRRI and PhilRice that developed and operationalized a satellite-based rice mapping and monitoring system called Philippine Rice Information System (PRISM).

Operational since 2018, PRISM uses Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite images and a smart detection system to map rice planting areas and planting dates. Using crop growth simulation modeling, it provides timely yield forecasts and end-of-season rice yields.

PRISM data will be used in designing and testing an Area-Based Yield (ARBY) index insurance for rice.

ARBY is a type of crop insurance that provides coverage based on historical average yield of a specific geographic area, rather than individual farmer’s yields, to determine payouts in the event of crop losses.

“The fusion of satellite technology and advanced modeling is revolutionizing how we can insure rice crops. With timely insights into yield forecasts and end-of-season yields, satellite-based ARBY index insurance for rice can help simplify the much-needed coverage for smallholder farmers, paving the way for a more resilient and sustainable future for agriculture,” IRRI interim director general Ajay Kohli said.

This collaboration is supported by the GIAR initiative on Climate Resilience (ClimBeR) which aims to transform the climate adaptation capacity and increase the resilience of smallholder production systems to withstand severe climate change effects in six countries including the Philippines.