Removing obstacles after 1 year of piloting Agricultural Insurance

(Baonghean)Pursuant to Decision 315/QD-TTg dated March 1, 2011 of the Prime Minister, Nghe An is one of 231 localities nationwide selected to pilot agricultural insurance (AIA) with two types of products: rice and livestock.

The province has selected 3 districts of Yen Thanh, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau to implement insurance for rice crops and 9 communes in 3 districts of Thanh Chuong, Do Luong and Tuong Duong to implement insurance on a commune-wide scale for livestock such as buffalo, cows and pigs. After 1 year of implementation, Nghe An is one of the leading localities in piloting agricultural insurance.

The results were very positive: 50,633 farming households in 3 pilot districts participated in rice crop insurance, of which 22,021 households participated in the winter-spring crop and 28,611 households participated in the summer-autumn crop. Regarding livestock, 1,394 households in 9 communes participated. The total insurance premium amounted to more than 16,205 billion VND.



Checking rice growth in Nam Dan.

Through propaganda channels, farmers have fully understood the meaning of insurance. They have participated in insurance with a sense of responsibility. Mr. Hong Cuong in Long Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district said: His family is in the normal category but still participates in insurance for 8 sao of rice.

He joined with the mindset of not waiting for compensation from the State, but to feel secure in investing in production and improving rice productivity. For the insurance premium of 8 sao of rice, he has to pay 40%, which is 400,000 VND. If there is damage due to natural disasters, he will receive an insurance payment of over 7 million VND. If the investment is good, the productivity of 8 sao of rice will exceed the 400,000 VND that he spent to buy insurance.

With that mentality, many households in his hamlet have voluntarily participated. If in the summer-autumn crop there were only 300 households participating, in the winter-spring crop there were 700 households. Yen Thanh is currently the leading locality in the movement to participate in rice crop insurance. The whole district has 39/39 communes participating with 18,622 households (both crops). Of which, 16,773 are poor households, 1,124 are near-poor households, and 765 are normal households. Talking to us, Mr. Nguyen Si Hung - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee said. When there was a policy to pilot rice crop insurance, the departments and branches actively participated.

As a result, 100% of communes and 100% of poor and near-poor households have participated. However, the participation of normal households is still low. Because this group has a low insurance premium support rate, people are not interested. On the other hand, Mr. Hung also suggested that the method of determining crop failure must be more specific for each field and each hamlet, if it is calculated by households (this is a difficult task, but calculating closely like that is appropriate). It is necessary to increase propaganda for normal households to participate. The trial period should be extended to 3 years, until 2014. There should be a policy to support funding for the steering committees of districts and communes.

Mr. Le Huu Kien - Chairman of Dai Lien Cooperative (Quynh Xuan) shared: Currently, the method of calculating average productivity to pay insurance is still based on the average productivity of the whole commune, which is not reasonable. It is recommended to calculate by area from 4-5ha. When calculating compensation value, it is necessary to base on the reality of each locality. On the other hand, farmers participating in insurance are customers, so they need to have a care regime like other types of subjects.

While rice crop insurance was positively received by farmers, livestock insurance was received cautiously. In 2012, only 1,394 households participated with 3,421 cattle and pigs. This is a rather modest number compared to the total herd in the three localities selected for the pilot. Explaining the reason, at the conference to evaluate 1 year of insurance implementation, an official of Do Luong district said: For cattle and sows with a long raising time, farmers agreed, but for pigs with a short raising time, farmers were not interested. The scope of livestock insurance is still too narrow, only covering diseases such as foot and mouth disease. It is necessary to expand the scope of insurance to other dangerous disease groups. According to regulations, only 10% of the livestock herd is infected with the disease to be declared an epidemic. This rate will cause disadvantages for participants in areas with less than 10% of the epidemic.

After 1 year of piloting the agricultural insurance program, it has been shown that this is a major policy of the State that is in line with the people's wishes and is of interest to farmers. However, there are still problems that need to be resolved and adjusted to be closer to reality.

Cong Sang