THE Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) is working on strengthening the crop insurance programs in Negros Occidental to cover more farmer-beneficiaries and maximize accessibility to the assistance given by the government. The agency recently conducted the Stakeholders and Partners Meeting at the Nature’s Village in Talisay City. It was attended by city and municipal agriculture officers, personnel of Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, and representatives of partner-agencies like the Department of Agriculture-Negros Island Region, Department of Agrarian Reform, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Land Bank of the Philippines. Clarence Jereza, head of PCIC Marketing and Sales Division, and Mao Aurecencia, senior claims adjuster of PCIC Region 6, conducted reorientations on the agency’s crop insurance program policies and guidelines. Jose Ma. Torres, insurance underwriter and officer-in-charge of PCIC- Negros Occidental, said the meeting sought to further equip and prepare partner-agencies in underwriting and claims procedures. “Strengthening crop insurance programs means being able to maximize the accessibility of farmers in the province to the insurance programs being provided by the government through PCIC,” Torres said. Torres said that farmers insurance applications are starting to pour in as the first cropping season officially started. PCIC insurance being implemented this year includes the Registry System on Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) with an allocation of P40 million for Negros Occidental. This is to fully subsidize the premium cost of master listed farmers, Torres said. The Negros First Universal Crop Insurance Program (NFUCIP) with a current budget balance of P9 million is allocated to assist farmers who are not covered by the RSBSA program by providing them premium payment loans payable after every harvest, he added. PCIC-Negros Occidental records showed that in 2015, total amount of claims paid to enrolled farmers in the province through NFUCIP reached P28 million. As of May this year, PCIC has already released about P20 million, it added. Other crop insurance programs assisted by PCIC include Sikat Saka Program, Land Bank of the Philippines-Department of Agrarian Reform’s Agrarian Production Credit Program, and Department of Agriculture’s High Yielding Technology Adaptation, among others. Source - http://www.sunstar.com.ph