New agricultural insurance system to launch after the New Year: those actually farming with no land and no lease can be insured, and enjoy the elderly farmer allowance upon retirement
In order to protect the rights and interests of farmers, the Council of Agriculture issued on the 12th of this month the "Directions for the Recognition of Actual Cultivators Engaged in Agricultural Production Work" (hereinafter referred to as the "Actual Cultivation Recognition Directions"). As long as there is proof of actual farming, even without land and without a written lease, one can still enjoy agricultural insurance protection, paying only 78 yuan per month in premiums. In addition to health insurance benefits, upon retirement at age 65 one can enjoy an elderly farmer allowance of more than 7,000 yuan per month. Zhu Jianwei, director of the Council of Agriculture's Planning Department, stated that agricultural insurance is a state subsidy for preserving agriculture, and it will rigorously verify and grant it to those who truly farm.
How is the qualification of actual farming recognized?
The Council of Agriculture explained that in the future, actual cultivators may, in accordance with the "Actual Cultivation Recognition Directions," apply to the various agricultural research and extension stations for a document certifying actual engagement in agricultural production work (hereinafter referred to as the farming work certificate), and then, presenting that certificate, apply to the farmers' association at their registered household location to join agricultural insurance. It is expected that the registration documents will be made public on the website after the New Year. The qualifications and operating scale conditions that actual cultivators should possess are as follows:
1. Farmers meeting one of the following qualifications; first-time applicants must be under 65 years old:
(1) Top 100 Young Farmers selected by the Council of Agriculture.
(2) Members of local young farmer associations (chapters) registered and with complete data in the Council of Agriculture's Farmers' Academy management system.
(3) Farmers who have passed the 4 Labels 1 QR Code certification (including organic certification, production and sales traceability, CAS Taiwan Excellent Agricultural Products, GAP safe fruits and vegetables, or agricultural products with a Taiwan agricultural product production traceability QR Code, etc.) and farmers who have passed friendly environment certification.
(4) Farmers cooperating with the Council of Agriculture's agricultural policy.
2. Those whose operating scale meets one of the following situations:
(1) The person's actual annual sales amount of agricultural products reaches NT$250,000 or more, or the input of agricultural production materials reaches NT$150,000 or more.
(2) The operating scale of agricultural land reaches the baseline for recognizing the operating area of an actual cultivator. (For example: 2 hectares of rice)
The Council of Agriculture explained that after an actual cultivator applies to the extension station in the location of the agricultural land for issuance of the farming work certificate, the extension station will, together with the farmers' association at the location of the agricultural land, the township (town, city, district) office, and the respective regional branches of the Council of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Agency, dispatch personnel to conduct on-site inspection and carry out oral questioning to confirm that the applicant truly possesses the techniques and ability for actual cultivation. Those who pass review as meeting the qualifications will be issued the farming work certificate. Actual cultivators may use that certificate to apply to the farmers' association to join agricultural insurance.
Current agricultural insurance enrollment is double the number of actual farmers; strict checks will be carried out
Zhu Jianwei stated that the current agricultural insurance system, in addition to broadly including actual farmers, will also strictly investigate the chaos of "enjoying agricultural insurance without farming." According to statistics, 1.18 million people nationwide have joined agricultural insurance, but the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics estimates that the nationwide farming population is only 550,000. Zhu Jianwei explained that through cross-referencing medical insurance data, it was found that quite a few company heads, doctors' wives, accountants, and others participate in agricultural insurance, and these will be strictly eliminated one by one.
To ensure that agricultural insurance is not used excessively or improperly, in the future, for landless actual cultivators, a declaration will be required once a year to confirm the fact of farming. In addition, regardless of whether one has land, as long as one participates in agricultural insurance, at age 64 there will be a re-verification of qualifications to ensure that one is farming, so that the elderly farmer allowance can be smoothly received after age 65.