At least 800 Ilocano farmers will be selected as beneficiaries of a crop insurance the government grants to protect farmers from the impact of climate change.

According to provincial agriculturist Norma Lagmay, typhoon-battered Ilocos Norte has been included in the more than P1-billion fund the Department of Budget and Management released as financial assistance to farmers around the country.

Lagmay said beneficiaries of the program have yet to be identified by the department.

The government’s crop insurance program is meant to help farmers cope with financial losses once hit by typhoon and other natural calamities.

A crop insurance is a risk management tool enabling farmers to become more resilient and continue production despite severe weather and other challenges that impact their livelihood.

Since 1982, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) has recorded many catastrophic typhoons, floods, droughts, plant diseases, and pests that have wreaked havoc on food crops, resulting in multi-billion losses in agriculture.

Early last year, the Department of Agrarian Reform has also entered into a partnership with the PCIC to insure Ilocos Norte's land reform beneficiaries against crop damage or losses.

Like the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries-Agricultural Insurance Program, farmers are also protected against losses due to pest and disease infestations, natural calamities, and extreme weather conditions brought about by climate change.

The program has accounted for a P17.1-billion crop insurance coverage plan between the DAR and PCIC, an agency of the Department of Agriculture in which the DAR provides a premium subsidy worth P1 billion.

The P1.5 million in indemnity payments were made to farmers covering 21 municipalities and 2 cities of Ilocos Norte, where some 900 hectares of un-milled rice were destroyed by typhoons.

Source - http://www.interaksyon.com/