As other provinces are battling to save crops, Cebu farmers will need not worry about the effects of the drought brought about by El Niño. According to provincial agriculturist Dr. Roldan Saragena, the farmers in Cebu can avail of an insurance for the crops and their livestock. The insurance program could give them at least P10,000 cash per hectare of crops destroyed not just by the drought but by other calamities as well. Saragena assured all premiums will be shouldered entirely by the provincial government for farmers and fishermen in the 51 component cities and towns. At least P10 million have been allocated by the Capitol in 2016 to finance the premium for the insurance. The insurance will cover crops, livestock, and also farm folks, mainly farmers and fishermen. Identified farmers aged 15 to 80 years old can avail of the benefits design primarily for the "extreme" El Niño phenomenon forecasted by the state weather bureau occurring this year. Farm folks who are interested to avail of the benefits will need to visit their town or city's local agriculturist office to process their insurance documents. Even when the dry spell is expected to last until the first quarter of 2016, Saragena said Cebu has yet to feel the direct effects of drought owing to the heavy and moderate rains affecting the province during the last two weeks. Since the insurance program's launch in 2015, some 30,000 individual farmers have already availed of the scheme. This came in handy during typhoons Queenie and Seniang, and at the first occurrence of the El Niño in May last year. Crops covered include corn, rice, vegetables, and fruit trees like mango. Livestock for the Capitol's free insurance program covers cow, carabao, and goat. Under the "accident dismemberment security scheme", insurance is also ready for farmers and fisher folks in case of accidents. The Capitol is paying the premium computed by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, which is paid per planting season. The amount paid by the provincial government varies from the number of hectares which the farmer seeks to insure. Source - cnnphilippines.com