China News Service, Beijing, June 29 (Reporter Zhao Jianhua) The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission have recently announced that they will expand the scope of implementation of full cost insurance and planting income insurance for the three major food crops of rice, wheat and corn, and stabilize grain farmers. Income, support the development of modern agriculture, and ensure national food security.
China will target the rice grains that are related to the national economy, people’s livelihood and food security in 13 major grain-producing counties in Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Sichuan. For the three major food crops, wheat, corn, and corn, full cost insurance and planting income insurance are carried out. The central and local finances provide premium subsidies to insured farmers.
Among them, full cost insurance, that is, agricultural insurance in which the insurance amount covers the total cost of agricultural production such as direct materialized costs, land costs, and labor costs.
Farming income insurance, that is, the insurance amount reflects the price and output of agricultural products, and covers agricultural insurance for income from farming.
The insurance liability of full cost insurance should cover major local natural disasters, major plant diseases and insect pests, accidents, etc.; the insurance liability of planting income insurance should cover the loss of income caused by fluctuations in agricultural product prices and output.
In principle, the protection level of the two types of insurance can reach up to 80% of the income from the cultivation of the corresponding varieties.
The insurance coverage targets all farmers, including farmers with moderate scale operations and small farmers.
In 2021, 500 grain-producing counties will be covered, accounting for about 60% of the grain-producing counties in major grain-producing provinces.
In 2022, the 13 major grain-producing provinces will achieve full coverage of grain-producing counties.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance introduced on the 29th that full cost insurance and planting income insurance should be carried out. They adhere to the principles of autonomy and voluntariness, embodying financial inclusiveness and other principles. All localities will do their best according to their financial situation and do their best.
The restriction on the proportion of self-payment by rural households will be lifted. On the basis of provincial financial subsidies of no less than 25%, the central government will subsidize 45% of the central and western regions and northeast regions, and 35% of the eastern regions.
The person in charge said that with the rapid development of moderately large-scale agricultural operations, farmers' risk protection needs are increasing, but the level of protection is still dominated by direct materialized costs, which are about 40% of the total production cost, which is difficult to meet the increasing risk protection of farmers demand.
Since 2018, 24 major grain-producing counties in 6 major grain-producing provinces in Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei have carried out a three-year pilot work. The pilot work has achieved positive results and requires policy expansion. The voice is high.
In response to social concerns, the Ministry of Finance has researched and formulated policies for the implementation of full cost insurance and planting income insurance for the three major food crops in 13 major grain-producing provinces.
The person in charge emphasized that “farmers grow grain, and insurance escorts them”. In the face of disasters, agricultural insurance is a “reassurance” for farmers, basically allowing insured households to “guarantee income from drought and flood.
In 2020, China's agricultural insurance premium income will be 81.5 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), becoming the country with the largest agricultural insurance premium in the world. Financial support is an important guarantee for accelerating the high-quality development of agricultural insurance.
In 2020, the central government allocated 28.549 billion yuan in agricultural insurance premium subsidies to provide 189 million sub-farmers with 4.13 trillion yuan in risk protection, and the effect of the use of central government subsidies was 145 times larger.
(Finish)