Agriculture now has insurance coverage

CEBU, Philippines - Negros Oriental farmers can now look forward to have their rice and corn fields including high value crops, livestocks, farm equipment and machineries insured with the Philipine Crop Insurance Corporation.

This insurance coverage was sealed with this week’s signing of a memorandum of agreement between the PCIC, represented by its president Jovy Bernabe, and the provincial government headed by Governor Roel Degamo.

Bernabe told Degamo the insurance program was aimed at covering over 50,000 farmers all over the province. Two weeks ago, PCIC extended P1 million to areas hit by El Niño in Negros Occidental, he said.

Negros Oriental, in the 2012 census, has about 244,613 farmers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sector in Agriculture. However, only P1.6 billion was allotted for agriculture insurance for next year all over the country. In Negros Oriental, even if the enrolment already reached 33,347 as of October this year, only 14,400 farmer beneficiaries would be covered by the insurance, which guarantees more than P455 million in case of disasters and calamities.

Norman Cajucom, senior vice president for PCIC’s regional marketing group, said that in terms of investments, PCIC’s target is P415 million with a generation so far of P535 million worth of farm investments.

Aside from rice and corn, PCIC is fully subsidizing insurance for livestock (poultry, cattle, swine in addition to aqua culture farms), said Cajucom, adding that this year;s allocation is about P33 million for Negros Oriental although, as of October, more than P54 million have been appropriated and the listing continues.

Degamo said the MOA signing sealed off a previous agreement between PCIC and the Capitol to provide for the insurance of Negros Oriental farmers.

Eight months ago, the governor requested for an authority from the Provincial Board for him to sign the MOA with PCIC so farmers can avail themselves of the needed help from the national government following the onslaught of typhoons and calamities that hit Negros Oriental.

PCIC regional marketing manager Crescencio Deligero Jr, confirmed that the provinces of Cebu, and Bohol were among the first to benefit from the insurance program after the devastation of crops and livestock by several typhoons.

In Negros Oriental, a total of 102 farmers were paid a total of P577,000 as of October this year. This included the army worm attack in farmlands of Mabinay that affected more than 30 farmers and damaged 16 hectares of upland rice of 22 farmers.

Deligero said 72 hectares of corn in Bayawan City, and parts of Zamboanguita and Valencia towns were affected, and 77 farmers from these places were paid P434,000 in insurance claims. — Juancho R. Gallarde (FREEMAN)