Close to 14,000 farmers are now insured and P25-million worth of claims have been distributed through the Negros First Universal Crop Insurance Program (NFUCIP) through the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.
NFUCIP was launched in 2011 and has started giving claims to insured farmer beneficiaries since 2012, Senior Provincial Agriculturist II Dina Genzola said.
For its rice program, the Provincial Government subsidizes P500 for the premium while the farmer pays P340 or a total of P840 per cropping season.
At most, a rice farmer can claim up to P42,000 per hectare or at the least P17,000 per hectare coverage in case of drought or typhoon.
OPA urged farmers to use quality and certified seeds from the Negros Occidental Accredited Seed Producers Cooperative (NOASEPCO) that are high yielding.
NOASEPCO is an organized group of 40-70 seed growers and producers not for commercial purpose but as a source of quality and certified seeds.
According to Genzola, seed production is another potential industry for the province where even some regional offices get their quality seeds from NOASEPCO.
Banner seeds produced by NOASEPCO include coffee, banana, cacao, and other leguminous products in order to reach the self-sufficiency level goal of the province and for diversification purposes.
Meanwhile, Genzola who presented OPA’s roadmap, programs and projects during the multi- sectoral consultation for the World-Bank Funded Inclusive Partnerships for Agricultural Competitiveness Project organized by the Department of Agrarian Reform also encouraged agrarian reform beneficiaries to avail of the insurance program.
“Although most ARBs are into sugar farming, and sugarcane has the capacity to withstand weather conditions, still, we encourage them to insure their crops with NFUCIP or the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation as protection against the adverse effects of climate change,” Genzola said.
Genzola added that climate change is not a concept anymore, it is a reality.
ARBs are also advised to plant food that are always on the table and go into cash crops like vegetables that are easy to plant, harvest and sell as well as for consumption.
Source - Phillipine Information Agency
