The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), in partnership with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC), is offering farmers in Agusan del Norte low-cost crop-insurance packages for protection against disastrous typhoons and drought. The DAR recently met with farmers belonging to nine different agrarian-reform beneficiaries (ARBs) organizations  in the province as part of an orientation and training program on the Risk Mitigation and Management for Agricultural Investment and Crop Insurance Education. DAR-PCIC Point Person Luningning Buque-Ycoy said in a statement the activity aims to make farmers understand the crop insurance program of the government and encourage them to insure their crops to avoid losses brought by natural calamities, pest and diseases, and climate change. “The agricultural insurance is anchored on the DAR’s Agrarian Production Credit Program and this program empowers eligible ARBs to avail [themselves of] the package of credit assistance coupled with agricultural insurance,” Ycoy added. PCIC Resource Person Ernesto Chaves said providing agricultural insurance to the farmers will mitigate the possibility of farm losses associated with extreme weather events, such as drought or typhoons and other calamities. Lucita C. Onde of Duque ARB Cooperative said, “The crop insurance is a great opportunity for many farmers to secure our crops and give us peace of mind.” Crop protection is one of the DAR’s mandate in the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program to mitigate the risk involved in agricultural production. Source - http://www.businessmirror.com.ph