Agricultural Insurance Act faces another hurdle as farmers propose policy, assessment, and premium mechanism recommendations
As extreme climate intensifies, according to the latest statistics from the Agricultural Finance Bureau, the average annual agricultural loss is 12.6 billion yuan, but the annual cash relief fund is only 3.5 billion yuan, accounting for only 25% of agricultural losses. The subsidy amount is far from enough to fill the agricultural loss gap. To stabilize farmers' income, the Council of Agriculture has vigorously promoted "agricultural insurance" in recent years, but the Agricultural Insurance Act has been discussed for more than two years, and the draft special law was returned by the Executive Yuan last year on grounds of "insufficient finalized items, insufficient insurance scale, and insufficient basis to estimate agricultural insurance expenditure." Without the basis of a special law, there is not only no dedicated unit or special fund, but agricultural policies can only be promoted and piloted at a snail's pace. "Farmers' low willingness to insure" has always been a bottleneck in promotion.
This year (2018), the Council of Agriculture redrafted the Agricultural Insurance Act as a special law, carefully planning how to draft it so that it directly meets farmers' needs. "Farmers' thinking is simple. They did not think of the (agricultural insurance) system, but they pay money, and when their sugar apples fall all over the ground, they still cannot get corresponding claims. Seeing that makes them disillusioned." Li Jiantong, director-general of the Taitung Area Farmers' Association, relayed farmers' mindset. Mango farmers in the Fangliao area also said that recently the foehn wind caused all the mangoes to become empty shells, and the harvest could not compare with previous years. The current agricultural reform unit is still assessing the damage, and whether claims will be paid is still uncertain. "We have heard that if mango claims are not paid this year, everyone's willingness to insure will probably decrease again."
A manager surnamed Deng from Cathay Century Insurance said frankly that the perspective of the Agricultural Insurance Act should be balanced and take into account the thinking of both insurance companies and farmers so that agricultural insurance can "last long and endure." Current agricultural practitioners once again emphasized the importance of flexible policy design and adaptation to local conditions. The Council of Agriculture promised to complete the Agricultural Insurance Act and send it to the Executive Yuan again this year.
