The provincial government of Negros Occidental has set aside an additional P5-million fund for the farmers’ crop insurance in the wake of the natural calamities affecting the province’s agriculture sector. The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) is implementing the Negros First Universal Crop Insurance Program (NFUCIP), an initiative of the provincial government, in partnership with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC). Provincial agriculturist Japhet Masculino said on Friday that the added fund had been approved by the Provincial Board during its regular session on Tuesday. “Calamities can happen anytime thus, it would be better if farmers are enrolled to be able to receive indemnity claims,” Masculino said. He noted that following the drought, from January to June this year, the PCIC had distributed claims worth around P64 million to 13,000 farmers in Negros Occidental. “We only have minimal funds left for our crop insurance program,” Masculino said. During the first half of the year, the province’s agriculture sector, excluding sugarcane, incurred P174-million production losses due to El Niño. In the wake of Tropical Storm Falcon, rice farmers also reported losses amounting to P17.7 million. A total of 1,584 farmers were affected, with 2,529 hectares of farms in 59 barangays of six localities in southern Negros. Under the NFUCIP, farmers may avail themselves of the P17,000 claim per hectare of damaged farms. Based on the modified guidelines of the program, the P840 enrollment premium per cropping season is shouldered by the provincial government as a loan. Previously, only P500 was shouldered by the province while the remaining P340 was the counterpart of the farmer-enrollees. Enrollees should apply for insurance before planting and farms covered by the program are those planted for not less than 25 days. Source - https://www.panaynews.net