Strong calls for expanding agricultural insurance, farmers hope for more comprehensive protection
Patches of sugarcane lay fallen on the ground, their leaves torn. At 4 pm on August 29, an unexpected gale mixed with thunderstorms and hail battered Ye Xuelin's sugarcane in Yunxi Village, Yunxi Township, Qujiang District, knocking it down askew.
“That wind blew wildly for a full hour, with thunder and hail too, and my more than 20 mu of sugarcane really suffered.” On the morning of August 31, at Ye Xuelin's contracted land, he said sorrowfully.
The reporter saw at the scene that some hired workers were in the sugarcane field, lifting up the fallen stalks one by one, then covering the base of the sugarcane with soil, busy with self-rescue production. Ye Xuelin said that the fierce wind swept through in one direction, then blew back again after a while, and one third of the more than 20 mu of sugarcane was broken by the wind. “Originally, in just over 10 days the sugarcane was going to be ready for market. With this happening, if the remaining sugarcane can be kept alive, I will thank heaven and earth.”
Ye Xuelin, a resident of Yunxi Village, Yunxi Township, is a large-scale sugarcane grower and has grown sugarcane for 7 years.
Last year, he went to Quanwang Town and contracted 30 mu of land to grow greenhouse sugarcane, but because of drought he did not make money. In November last year, he returned to his hometown and contracted more than 20 mu of land, continuing to build greenhouses to grow sugarcane. Under his careful cultivation, the contiguous sugarcane had already grown to about 2 m tall, and just as the sugarcane was about to be marketed and make money, this storm shattered his dream of getting rich.
“Now the cost of hired labor and planting is high. This year I have already invested 300,000 yuan, and this natural disaster is estimated to leave me unable to recover even my costs.” Ye Xuelin sighed helplessly.
At 5 pm on August 29, after learning of the matter, Li Genrong, Party secretary of Yunxi Village, immediately called the person in charge of the Yunxi Township government to report the natural disaster that had struck Ye Xuelin's sugarcane planting. “At after 7 the next morning, I went to the scene to inspect. The contiguous sugarcane really had been flattened, and the losses were great.” Li Genrong told the reporter that Ye Xuelin had invested heavily in growing contiguous greenhouse sugarcane, and with this accident, whether the relevant government departments could provide subsidies within a reasonable scope to help Ye Xuelin get through the difficulty.
“In order to reduce farmers' losses, insurance companies should launch related agricultural insurance.” Li Genrong said that in developing large-scale planting, in order to prevent natural disasters and provide protection for agricultural production, insurance companies should reasonably provide agricultural production insurance for farmers growing grain, sugarcane and the like.
The reporter asked Ye Xuelin whether he had taken out agricultural insurance. Ye Xuelin said: “I have always been busy growing sugarcane well and never thought about insurance, nor did I know whom to go to for insurance.”
In this regard, the reporter interviewed a staff member of the Qujiang District Agriculture Bureau. The staff member said that at present Qujiang District and insurance companies have launched agricultural facility insurance, such as insurance for steel-frame greenhouses; there is also insurance for vegetables in greenhouses and personal accident insurance for family farms. However, there is still no insurance for growing sugarcane.
“I hope insurance companies will provide insurance for growing sugarcane. After all, I have grown sugarcane for many years and have mastered the technique. If there is no drought or flood, growing sugarcane can still make money. This time, although I suffered a natural disaster, I will still plant next year.” Ye Xuelin said hopefully.