The Council of Agriculture (COA), which launched a farm produce insurance program last year for pear and mango farmers, is continuing to expand the coverage to include rice this year and bananas next year, an official said Tuesday. Hsu Wei-wen (許維文), director of the council's Bureau of Agricultural Finance, said that to date, 164 insurance policies have been issued for pear growers operating on a combined total of 139 hectares. Six policies have been issued to mango growers, covering a total of 4.91 hectares. Sugar apples, the most vulnerable of all the crops the government plans to protect under the program, are now covered by 92 insurance policies, Hsu said. These policies involve farmers working on a combined total of 51 hectares. In September, rice will likely be included, with specific aquaculture products such as grouper, along with six types of greenhouse facilities, to be added by year-end, according to the official. Bananas, the second-most vulnerable cash crop, will have to wait until next year to be included in the government insurance program, because relevant data is still being gathered, he added. Local governments of Kaohsiung and Pingtung in southern Taiwan have been requesting the COA to sell insurance policies to all categories of aquaculturists to cover damage from torrential rain and typhoons. However, for this type of insurance, the COA will not be able to respond positively until next year, Hsu said. Under the farming insurance scheme, the government subsidizes insurance premiums for farmers, who can get compensation for losses caused by natural disasters. The compensation will be higher for those who pay their premiums in full. Hsu cited statistics over the past 10 years as saying that the annual output of Taiwan's agricultural sector averages about NT$500 billion (US$16.60 billion), while losses caused by natural disasters average about NT$10.7 billion. Source - http://focustaiwan.tw