April 27, 2017: China is planning to launch a new type of agriculture insurance to compensate crop yield losses resulting from natural disasters in about 200 counties.
According to The State Council, the counties will be chosen from China’s 13 major grain production provinces including Hebei, Heilongjiang, Anhui and Henan. The insurance will be offered to family farms, large scale growers and farmers’ cooperatives, covering the costs of agricultural materials, fertilizers, and land use fees for planting rice, wheat and corn.
It will enhance coverage of agricultural insurance, and increase support for large growers, said Tuo Guozhu, a professor from Capital University of Economics and Business.
China’s agricultural insurance developed rapidly in recent years. Data from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) show that in 2007-2016, agricultural insurance payment rose from 112.6 billion yuan ($16.3 billion) to 2.2 trillion yuan, and crop area coverage increased from 230 million mu (15.3 million hectares) to 1.72 billion.
The No 1 Document issued by the central government this year called for more comprehensive and diversified insurance plans for new types of agricultural businesses, and local governments will be encouraged to develop their own insurance products.
These measures are believed to promote stable development of disaster agriculture insurance.