Agricultural production builds a financial "firewall"
——An investigation on the promotion of high-quality development of agricultural insurance in Henan
Our reporter Xia Xianqing and Yang Zipei
Agricultural production has the characteristics of seasonality, periodicity, and regionality, and is vulnerable to natural disasters. Although grain income increases every year, the string of effectively guaranteeing national food security and protecting the rights and interests of farmers cannot be relaxed.
Henan, a major agricultural province that has encountered rare floods this year, feels this particularly deeply.
A reporter from the Economic Daily conducted an in-depth interview in Henan recently and found that by making full use of agricultural insurance, an important means of protection, Henan is firmly building a "firewall" and "safety net" for agricultural production.
Standing in the fields of Gujia Village, Caoli Township, Fugou County, Zhoukou City, Henan Province, I saw the winter wheat growing just right.
Who would have thought that a few months ago, there was a large area affected by the flood, and 10,000 mu of farmland had no harvest.
Since July, Henan, a major agricultural province in my country, has encountered rare floods, and agricultural production was once tight.
However, in an interview in Henan a few days ago, the reporter found that the local agricultural production had recovered quickly after the catastrophe—and agricultural insurance contributed a lot.
In recent years, benefiting from the rapid development of agricultural insurance, Henan has become an important domestic agricultural insurance market: the insurance premiums for wheat and fattening pigs rank first in the country, and the overall insurance premiums rank second in the country.
While Henan has embarked on a road of characteristic development of agricultural insurance, it has also built a "firewall" for agricultural production and provided "reassurance" for farmers.
Responding to disasters in time
What does agricultural insurance mean for farmers?
For villagers in Caoli Township, agricultural insurance is like a "life-saving straw."
Affected by the flood conditions of the Jialu River, in late July, 10,000 acres of farmland in Caoli Township had no harvest.
For the villagers, this is a big blow.
"Fortunately, I bought insurance and recovered some of the losses." Gu Chunmao, a villager, told reporters that after the farmland was hit, on the morning of July 27, his mobile phone received the news of the compensation of 7951.8 yuan for crop damage from the Zhoukou branch of Zhongyuan Agricultural Insurance.
Astonished at the quick arrival of the claims, Gu Chunmao felt warm.
"The first time I felt that the national policy was good, it provided us with a strong backing and made me feel more at ease in farming."
The villager Gu Zhanxing was also deeply moved.
"When the autumn crops were planted this year, I insured the 600 acres of peanuts in my family at 5.4 yuan per acre, and Zhongyuan Agricultural Insurance paid me more than 160,000 yuan in this flood." Gu Zhanxing told reporters that he used the indemnity to repurchase the seeds. , The planting of winter wheat was completed.
"After discovering the disaster, we overcame various difficulties and went to the field for field surveys, and operated drones to inspect and determine the damage in the hardest-hit areas." Hu Shengli, manager of the Fugou branch of Zhongyuan Agricultural Insurance, told reporters. In order to maximize the comfort of the people affected by the disaster, help them carry out production and self-rescue, and minimize the loss of crops, they adopted the flash compensation method to carry out compensation.
"If you follow the normal claims settlement process, you will have to wait about a month to get the compensation payment. This time, it took us less than 24 hours from the investigation to the release of the compensation payment to the masses."
Gujia Village has a total of more than 3,800 acres of land, of which 1,344 acres of farmland where peanuts and soybeans are grown are covered by agricultural insurance.
After this disaster, the village received a total of 10.52 million yuan in compensation for crop damage.
"This makes the villagers feel the'backing' role of agricultural insurance, which is more effective than any mobilization." Gu Yayong, secretary of the Party branch of Gujia Village, said.
Escort for the little seeds
Farmers grow grain, and insurance escorts.
Food is related to the national movement and people's livelihood. Among them, the seed industry is a strategic and basic core industry of the country, and it is the foundation of ensuring the country's food security.
"In late June, we planted corn seedlings." Xu Fangzi, chairman of the Sunny Day Agricultural Service Professional Cooperative in Huojia County, Xinxiang City, said that before planting corn, this land had just harvested this year's seed production wheat.
"At that time, the wheat seed production was good, with a yield of 700 kilograms per mu." Xu Fangzi told reporters that this year was his first insurance policy. With the support and encouragement of the government, Sunny Sky Cooperative insured a total of 1659 mu of farmland for wheat seed production insurance. .
He calculated an account for the reporter: In May of this year, the loss of more than 100 mu of wheat due to diseases and insect pests was 34%. Based on the insured amount of 1,000 yuan per mu, he received more than 30,000 yuan in compensation from the Central Plains Agricultural Insurance.
Asked about the premium, Xu Fangzi couldn't hide his joy, "The premium is 10 yuan per mu. The government is all inclusive, and we didn't pay a penny."
Seed industry is a high-risk industry, with large R&D investment, high market risk, long investment cycle, and is easily affected by factors such as climate, market, and technology.
Compared with general crop planting, seed production is more demanding on the weather and faces greater risks.
For farmers like Xu Fangzi, farming is afraid of natural disasters.
He told reporters a story: In 2016, Xu Fangzi transferred 3,500 acres of land from farmers to grow seed wheat.
Unexpectedly, the wheat encountered continuous rainstorms during the critical wax maturity period.
That year, he lost more than 2 million yuan without insurance.
Like him, large grain farmers in nearby villages suffered severe setbacks.
To make matters worse, in 2017, there was another severe drought in the local area. Those cooperatives that had not recovered their vitality went bankrupt and closed one after another...Speaking of which, Xu Fangzi couldn't hide his excitement, "Agricultural insurance is indeed a good thing! In the face of this year's heavy rains and floods. In disasters, the insurance I purchased provides timely protection. Even if the government does not subsidize it, I am willing to buy it! Agricultural insurance is like a'reassurance', so I no longer have to worry about natural disasters."
Like Xu Fangzi, in Huojia County Good Harvest Agricultural Service Professional Cooperative, it is the first time to insure wheat seed production insurance on 1,200 acres of land.
After suffering from plant diseases and insect pests in mid-May, after timely investigation and damage assessment by the Central Plains Agricultural Insurance and Agricultural and Rural Affairs Bureau, the cooperative received a compensation of 18,000 yuan within one month.
"Now, we trust insurance very much! With insurance backing, no matter what disaster we encounter, we have the courage to survive." said Li Xiliang, chairman of the Good Harvest Cooperative.
Deeply bundled with characteristic agriculture
The edible fungus sticks are arranged neatly, and some workers are picking mature mushrooms... At the Sun's Fungi Industry Cooperative in Xiping Town, Xixia County, Nanyang City, the scene is busy.
"Since the new crown pneumonia epidemic, our edible mushrooms have been mainly sold domestically and sold to major supermarkets and markets." Sun Wei, the head of the cooperative, told reporters that this is the fourth year he has insured for edible mushrooms.
"Edible fungi have very strict requirements on the growth environment, and the planting risk is high, and they are easily infected or damaged if they are careless." Sun Wei introduced that edible fungi are susceptible to infection by mixed fungi during the growth period, continuous high temperature in summer, and natural disasters. Infringe.
Last year, the shiitake mushrooms grown in their cooperative were infected by various bacteria, resulting in a loss of nearly 10% of the output and a compensation of more than 300,000 yuan.
According to the insurance premium of 0.13 yuan per bag, after government subsidies, each bag of edible fungus only needs to pay 0.03 yuan premium, and you can enjoy agricultural insurance with an insured amount of 2 yuan per bag.
"We have more than 700 cooperatives, and the average annual output per household is more than 1 million bags." Sun Wei said, "When there was no insurance in the past few years, the risk was high. We dare not expand blindly. Now that we have insurance, we can expand our scale. Emboldened."
In addition to the planting industry, agricultural insurance also plays an important role in the breeding industry.
In the Neixiang Meat Industry Complex of Muyuan Group, the reporter saw that modern pig houses have been built.
Living in buildings and blowing air-conditioning has become the norm for pig breeding in the complex.
At present, Muyuan Group has 300,000 live pigs in the inner township. From January to May this year, Muyuan's native pig breeding has been insured for more than 1.5 million yuan, during which more than 30,000 pigs have been claimed.
"For us, the meaning of insurance is to reduce risks and losses." Qin Minghua, the head of Muyuan Group's Neixiang Meat Industry Complex, told reporters that Muyuan's live pig insurance is roughly divided into three categories: pigs, breeding pigs, and fattening pigs.
"It also includes the harmless treatment of dead pigs. We will report the number of dead pigs every day, which is settled every 3 to 7 working days, which is of social significance while reducing losses."
Speaking of pig breeding insurance, Tan Pei, an employee of Muyuan Group’s Neixiang Meat Industry Complex, said: "It would be perfect if we could replace manual inspection with smart inspection!" She told reporters that manual inspection has unpredictable risks, such as Contact with dead pigs is unavoidable, and there is the possibility of pathogen infection.
If the intelligent inspection can be realized, it will save labor and convenience, and ensure the safety of the staff.
The reporter learned that in recent years, the role of agricultural insurance in agricultural production has become increasingly prominent, and special agriculture in various regions is deeply tied to agricultural insurance.
For example, in Nanyang, in the cultivation of kiwis in Xixia, golden pears in Bowang Town, and traditional wheat and corn, farmers’ awareness of insurance coverage has been increasing.
Innovative model to solve people's worries
Nowadays, the comprehensive promotion of rural revitalization is in full swing, and the role that agricultural insurance can play is also increasing.
In Ye County, Pingdingshan City, the new model created by agricultural insurance to promote the development of the village's collective economy is a vivid case.
"Our village has developed, and the next step is to drive other villages to develop together." Li Guohao, party branch secretary of Quanji Village, Longquan Township, Yexian County, told reporters with confidence that in the process of winning the fight against poverty, they established a joint-stock economic cooperative. Circulate 1,050 acres of land to develop special plantings such as golden yellow chrysanthemum and high oleic peanuts.
With the support of the county and township party committees and governments, they transferred another 500 acres of land to develop rose planting and vegetable greenhouse planting.
"'Insurance underpinning' gives us solid backing!" Li Guohao said, last year the 360 acres of high oleic peanuts planted by the cooperative suffered from plant diseases and insect pests due to weather, and their production was reduced in a large area. They immediately reported the case to the Yexian branch of PICC P&C.
The insurance company then inspected and measured many times on the spot, worked with agricultural experts to determine the loss, and compensated 107,000 yuan in accordance with the "insurance underpinning" policy, which really solved everyone's problems.
The reporter learned that in 2020, PICC P&C Henan Branch has insured a total of 80 special planting income insurance projects for Yexian Collective Economic Organizations, undertaking risk protection of 50 million yuan, and currently has a cumulative compensation of 500,000 yuan.
In Sanmenxia City, Apple's "insurance + futures" also quietly changed the lives of fruit farmers.
At the apple planting base of the Sanmenxia Jinshan Fruit Farmers Cooperative, the person in charge Wang Leilei told reporters, “We have more than 160 members. Last year, we transferred more than 1,300 acres of land. According to the futures market, the insurance premium of less than 30,000 yuan was paid for 24 years. Ten thousand yuan".
At present, the cooperative has provided nearly 200 jobs for neighboring people with employment difficulties, with daily wages ranging from RMB 70 to RMB 100.
"I just plant it." Shui Jianwei, a poverty-stricken household in Nanyang Village, Caiyuan Township, Shanzhou District, Sanmenxia City, was also insured last year. Due to changes in futures prices, his family's 3.5 acres of apple land benefited 610 yuan per acre.
"Our characteristic agricultural insurance covers 14 varieties of apples, edible fungi, walnuts, etc., calculated on the basis that the city and county finances each bear 40%, and the insured bears 20%, and it is free for the people in need." Sanmenxia City Finance Feng Duo, deputy director of the bureau, said that through the implementation of "special agricultural insurance" and "apple insurance + futures", both cost and market were guaranteed.
"Through innovations in insurance products, regulatory methods, and policy mechanisms, Henan is helping to stabilize food security by promoting the high-quality development of agricultural insurance." said Han Jumin, director of the Local Finance Division of the Henan Provincial Department of Finance. After more than 10 years of exploration and practice, Henan Agricultural insurance has initially realized the "three transformations", that is, the transformation from materialized insurance to full cost insurance, from insurance cost to insured price and income, and from a single insurance model to "insurance + futures" and "insurance + credit". The transformation of the composite model of coordination and linkage.