Insured farmers receive windfall

MANILA, Philippines—It pays to be insured.

More than 1,000 rice and corn farmers in two towns of Isabela have received indemnity checks totaling almost P14 million to cover their losses from a drought that hit the province early this year, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) announced.

The 1,198 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), who till a total of 2,044.31 hectares of farmlands in San Pablo and Cabagan towns, received P13.8 million for losses incurred during the second cropping season, the DAR said.

In a news release, DAR Region II Director Marjorie P. Ayson said that early in 2013, the DAR and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. launched the Agrarian Reform Beneficiary Agricultural Insurance Program to provide comprehensive insurance against crop losses caused by natural disasters, pest infestation and plant diseases for the ARBs.

She said the department paid 100 percent of the insurance premiums for the ARBs’ rice, corn, high-value crops and livestock. This included insurance against accidents and death of ARBs and members of their household.

Ayson said the crop insurance coverage began on the date of issuance of the Certificate of Insurance Cover, which meant that coverage started at planting up to harvesting and covered the cost of production inputs plus an additional 20 percent to cover the value of the expected yield.—DJ Yap