The Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) said its crop-insurance coverage in 2018 expanded by more than a third to nearly P80 billion to a record high of more than
2 million farmers and fishermen.
The PCIC, a government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC), said its total crop-insurance coverage last year reached P79.820 billion, 36.53 percent over the P58.465 billion it was able to provide in 2017.
The PCIC added it was able to insure 2.27 million farmers and fishermen last year, which was 33.52 percent over the 1.7 million it covered in 2017.
“The assets covered included for the most part
rice, corn and high-value crop farms totaling 1.845 million hectares in 2018,
which is 39.04 percent greater than the 1.327 million insured in 2017,” the
GOCC said in a statement
on Sunday.
PCIC President and CEO Jovy C. Bernabe pronounced last year the PCIC aims to cover some 25 percent of the country’s total number of farmers, pegged at 10 million.
Bernabe added they would extend P65.1 billion worth of free crop-insurance coverage to more than 2 million farmers and fishermen to help them cope with the ill effects of climate change on farm production.
The PCIC, a GOCC under the Department of Agriculture, also said it has paid out last year P3.397 billion worth of indemnities to more than 442,035 farmers and fishermen.
The total figure of indemnification payment was 75.37 percent over the P1.937 billion it paid in 2017, the PCIC added.
“Most insured farmers and fisherfolk numbering 442,035 received the payments in 20 days or less according to PCIC’s improved and ISO-certified systems,” it said.
“The PCIC’s delivery of this gargantuan task, spread as its service is nationwide, was helped in part by the collective commitment of its management and staff to abide by strict operational policies and governance rules,” it added.