Wider crop insurance coverage pushed

Senator Francis Escudero sought yesterday a long-term program to address crop losses by getting farmers insurance coverage from the government-owned Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).

Escudero said the massive destruction caused by typhoon “Lando” on agriculture underscores the need to increase the coverage of crop insurance in the country.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) reported the other day that the cost of the damage has already reached 6.4 billion, covering thousands of hectares of farmlands in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Central Luzon regions.

Escudero said the impact of the typhoon suggests a big loss not just for the agriculture sector, but more so to farmers who rely heavily on farming for their livelihoods.

“Helping our farmers get an insurance coverage for their crops will not only save government funds, but more importantly, give farmers a sense of security amid the threat of climate change,” Escudero explained.

As an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), PCIC’s principal mandate is to provide insurance protection to farmers against losses arising from natural calamities, plant diseases and pest infestations of their palay and corn crops, as well as other crops.”

In 2014, PCIC reported a 24.3-percent increase in the number of enrollees in the government’s crop insurance program, registering 924,343 enrollees in 2014, from 743,589 in 2013.

The PCIC said that rice, corn and highvalue crop farmers covered by its insurance program expanded in size to 778,375 hectares, or 53.82 percent higher compared to the 2013 data. On the other hand, insured livestock rose six-fold to 500,568 last year.