Expansion of agricultural insurance policies for the three major food crops
Insurance escort to grow food with peace of mind (policy interpretation)
Our reporter Zhao Zhanhui
Recently, the Ministry of Finance, in conjunction with relevant departments and units, issued a notice to expand the scope of implementation of full cost insurance and planting income insurance for the three major food crops, and achieve full coverage of major grain producing counties in 13 major grain-producing provinces in 2022.
The three major agricultural insurance policies for food crops are further expanded and standards are raised. How will farmers be more motivated to grow food?
How will finance play a supporting role?
Expansion——
Including moderately scaled farmers and small farmers into the guarantee
“I quickly settled claims last year and I realized the benefits of insurance. 240 mu planted this year, and all of them have participated in full-cost wheat insurance.” said Yin Linlin, a large grain grower in Xiaotangyu Village, Wangzhuang Town, Feicheng City, Shandong Province.
In April last year, a cold spring caused Yin Linlin's 181 acres of wheat production to be damaged, and the complete wheat cost insurance allowed him to receive a compensation of 553 yuan per acre.
Wu Limin, a villager in Shangkanzi Village, Qilihe Town, Yixian County, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, also benefited.
In June and July last year, Jinzhou was hit by drought, and Datian corn in Yixian County was severely damaged.
"I have the most contracted land in Shiliba Village. In catching up with the severe drought, the contracting funds for land transferees have become a problem. Thanks to corn income insurance, my urgent need is solved." He insured 1742.24 mu of corn income insurance. , Paid 40,200 yuan of insurance premiums, and received compensation of 240,400 yuan.
Beginning in 2018, the central government has launched a three-year trial of full cost insurance and planting income insurance for the three major food crops in 24 major grain-producing counties in 6 major grain-producing provinces in Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei. Many farmers like Yin Linlin and Wu Limin have tasted the sweetness, and the voices for policy expansion are very high.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance stated that the major grain-producing counties in 13 major grain-producing provinces, including Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Sichuan, will treat rice and wheat. For the three major food crops of corn, full cost insurance and planting income insurance shall be carried out. The central and local governments shall implement premium subsidies for insured farmers.
This year, it will cover 500 major grain-producing counties, accounting for about 60% of the implementation area. By 2022, it will achieve full coverage of the major grain-producing counties in 13 major grain-producing provinces.
At the same time, the scope of implementation of the policy is expanded this time, and farmers and small farmers with moderate scale operations have been included in the scope of protection, which meets the risk protection needs of new business entities. All farmers within the scope of policy implementation can voluntarily take out insurance.
Upgrading——
High level of protection, up to 80% of the income from planting corresponding varieties
Agricultural insurance is an important means of guaranteeing agricultural production.
Since the central government implemented the agricultural insurance premium subsidy policy in 2007, my country's agricultural insurance has continued to expand, increase products, and raise standards, covering 16 major agricultural products including the three major food crops, natural rubber, and oil crops, and more than 60 local advantageous characteristic agricultural products. .
"The guaranteed amount per mu is 930 yuan, and the full cost insurance is an increase of 430 yuan per mu compared to the general wheat planting insurance. The amount of coverage not only covers the direct materialized costs of wheat planting seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and mechanical farming, but also includes land costs and labor. Cost." Yin Linlin calculated an account for the reporter.
“Complete cost insurance and planting income insurance can significantly improve farmers’ enthusiasm for growing grain. One of the main reasons is the high level of insurance protection. The insurance amount of complete cost insurance covers total agricultural production costs such as direct materialized costs, land costs and labor costs, and planting income. The insurance coverage covers agricultural planting income.” According to the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance, the protection level of these two types of insurance can reach up to 80% of the planting income of the corresponding varieties, which greatly exceeds the protection of the traditional direct materialized cost insurance, which is up to 40%. This level has greatly stabilized the income expectations of insured households from growing grain, while effectively preventing the phenomenon of poverty alleviation grain farmers from returning to poverty.
Not only the level of protection is high, but the scope of responsibility is also broader.
The insurance liability of full cost insurance covers major local natural disasters, major plant diseases and insect pests and accidents, etc. The insurance liability of planting income insurance covers income losses caused by fluctuations in agricultural product prices and yields. The coverage of insurance coverage is quite extensive, which basically solves the problem of farmers growing grain. Worries.
Rice, wheat, and corn are the main food varieties in common people's rice bowls. The Ministry of Finance has long established agricultural insurance policy arrangements for these three staple food crops that are related to the national economy and people's livelihood.
For example, it has the characteristics of "low security and wide coverage", direct materialized cost insurance for all farmers, and the level of protection covers seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, agricultural film, etc.; and agricultural disaster insurance that has been carried out in 500 major grain-producing counties The pilot program is aimed at farmers operating on a moderate scale, and the level of guarantee covers direct materialized costs and land costs.
How does the new policy link up with the existing policy?
According to the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance, based on the actual development of my country’s agricultural insurance, after analyzing and evaluating several types of insurance, it is clear that direct materialized cost insurance as a basic insurance will be retained for a long time. The direct materialized cost insurance with lower self-paid premiums should give farmers the right to choose insurance types according to their own needs and economic strength.” At the same time, the person in charge said that agricultural disaster insurance will be cancelled from 2022 because of full cost insurance and planting. The level of income insurance protection is higher, which is in line with the current stage and reality of my country’s agricultural insurance development. Agricultural catastrophe insurance is a transitional pilot policy, which can be replaced by full cost insurance or planting income insurance. Considering that farmers have already purchased agricultural insurance in 2021 Catastrophe insurance will be reserved for transition in 2021.
Assure--
Central and local governments subsidize farmers’ insurance premiums
The expansion and upgrading of the two types of insurance are inseparable from strong financial protection.
The notice stipulates that the central and local governments will subsidize the insurance premiums of insured farmers. The subsidy standard is based on the provincial financial subsidy not less than 25%. The central government subsidizes the central and western regions and northeast regions by 45%, and the eastern region subsidizes 35%. , There is no requirement on the proportion of farmers' self-payment and the proportion of city and county finances that are borne by the implementation area and the provincial finances shall be independently determined by the actual situation.
From January to March this year, the Ministry of Finance has conducted repeated calculations on budget arrangements with 13 major grain-producing provinces to determine the fiscal funds needed to expand the scope of policy implementation.
In recent years, the high-quality development of my country's agricultural insurance has accelerated, and financial support has played an important role in safeguarding.
In 2020, my country’s agricultural insurance premium income was 81.5 billion yuan, making it the largest country in the world in terms of agricultural insurance premiums. The central government allocated 28.549 billion yuan in subsidies for agricultural insurance premiums, providing 189 million households with 4.13 trillion yuan in risk protection. The effect of the use of financial subsidy funds was magnified 145 times.
"The more modern agriculture develops and the higher the scale, the more important financial insurance is." The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance said that my country has initially formed the "four beams and eight pillars" of agricultural insurance in line with national conditions, and has established a "central insurance bulk, local insurance characteristics". "The next step is to start from the perspective of improving the agricultural support and protection system and the rural financial service system, adhere to problem-oriented, key breakthroughs, and focus on effectively increasing the tilt of financial resources to key areas of rural revitalization, and accurately grasp the development of my country’s agricultural insurance. Direction and service to ensure national food security.
The person in charge stated that the specific progress will be made in the following aspects: one is to establish and improve the system, revise the "Agricultural Insurance Regulations", and improve supporting policies and measures; , Expand the increment of premium subsidies, make full use of international rules, and give full play to the role of agricultural insurance; third, accelerate the construction of an agricultural data information service platform, making it an important tool for the government to manage agricultural insurance in the near An important starting point for guiding agricultural production to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of agricultural insurance policies; fourth is to encourage localities to explore and carry out agricultural insurance innovation pilots based on actual conditions, develop standardized agricultural insurance products, and improve risk zoning and rate adjustment mechanisms; fifth, improve The agricultural insurance catastrophe risk diversification mechanism has formed a "full chain" agricultural insurance catastrophe risk diversification mechanism with multi-party participation and risk sharing.
Drawing: Zhang Danfeng
"People's Daily" (version 02 on November 22, 2021)