Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito (File photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito is pushing for the passage of a measure mandating the government to subsidize the crop insurance for small farmers tending to not more than 8 hectares of farmlands.
Under Senate Bill No. 390, the Department of Agriculture (DA) would be required to automatically include small farmers, regarded as among the most vulnerable sectors in the agriculture industry, in the national crop insurance protection program.
Once enacted into law, it would mandate the DA to pay the full insurance premium of farmers cultivating up to five hectares of agricultural land.
The measure, to be known as the “Crop Insurance Program for Small Farmers Act of 2022,” also orders the government to shoulder 50 percent of the insurance premium of farmers who own over five hectares but not more than eight hectares of lands.
“Needless to say, crop insurance is imperative for a country like the Philippines, where farmers are the poorest among the various sectors of the society,” Ejercito said in filing the bill.
“The country’s vulnerability to disasters and its disastrous effect on agricultural productivity call for a more permanent and long term solution that will ensure that the agricultural sector, especially the small farmers, are protected and given support to sustain and protect their production,” he said.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent onslaught of Supertyphoon “Karding” (international name: Noru) and Severe Tropical Storm Paeng (international name: Nalgae) highlighted the need to indemnify farmers and provide insurance coverage for crop losses due to natural calamities. “In an effort to help farmers in times of need, to improve agricultural productivity and to ensure food security, it is imperative to have a mandatory crop insurance,” Ejercito said.