Farmers, fisherfolks receive Php1.6-B crop insurance payments in 2016

MANILA—Close to 235,000 farmers and fisherfolks received Php1.6 billion in crop insurance payments in 2016, initial reports from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) show.

The PCIC said the indemnity payment allowed them to restart their operations after farm damage caused by the El Niño phenomenon and several typhoons and flooding last year, and prevent significant disruption in the supply of food in the market.

Collectively, these insured farmers operated 919,814.81 hectares, an expansion of 7.52 percent from the total farm area of 855,504.53 hectares covered by PCIC’s services in 2016.

The PCIC insured a total of 1.075 million farmers and fisherfolks in 2016.

It was the second time that PCIC shelled out indemnity payment at the billion-peso level. The indemnity payment was 16 percent more than the Php1.38 billion paid in 2015.

In terms of premium income, the PCIC generated Php2.59 billion, while its total amount of insurance cover reached Php41 billion.