Agricultural insurance: would you insure your own farmland?

This summer, floods ravaged the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Cities were waterlogged, and rural areas had long since become flooded plains. A single torrential downpour nearly destroyed a whole year of hope for farmers.

Agriculture is a fragile industry, and especially when facing natural risks, farmers always feel a strong sense of powerlessness. Even today, with gradually improving weather forecasting capabilities and infrastructure conditions, farmers' ability to withstand natural risks remains limited. So is there any measure that can help farmers reduce losses when facing risks? Yes, agricultural insurance is just such a way to mitigate losses by making amends after the fact. However, there is always a gap between the original intent of the policy and reality.

A friend who has worked in agricultural insurance for many years told me that when everything is smooth sailing, few people have a sense of risk. Likewise, in years with favorable weather, agricultural insurance is equivalent to wasting money for farmers. Rejoice in good years and accept your fate in bad years, this has been Chinese farmers' understanding of their own destiny for thousands of years. Although farming techniques have been completely transformed, the updating of ideas does not happen overnight. So can a model be set up to let farmers see the benefits of buying agricultural insurance? Under the current framework of the agricultural insurance system, agricultural insurance mostly covers only costs, not harvests, and compensation is disproportionate to losses. A walking stick is supposed to help people walk more steadily, but now you are told that the stick is not sturdy either, so do not rely on it too much. That is a bit awkward.

Whether a policy is good or not, you know once you use it. Farmers, the real beneficiaries, know best what shortcomings agricultural insurance has. Being hit by a disaster is a bad thing, but continuously strengthening the means of disaster prevention and mitigation amid disaster, and improving the ability to stop losses and reduce losses, is the attitude and confidence an industry should have as it develops.