BACOLOD CITY — The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) has urged farmers in Negros Occidental, who are not yet insured, to avail of crop insurance to help them recover from production losses brought about by calamities.
Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino issued the call anew after monsoon rains have wrought an initial damage of almost PHP526,000 to rice fields in a southern Negros town as of Friday.
An OPA report showed torrential rains enhanced by Tropical Storm Henry on July 15-17, hit almost 84 hectares of rice farms in four barangays in San Enrique, affecting 54 farmers.
The farms were partially damaged, resulting in an average yield loss of 44 percent or about 125 metric tons, it said.
Almost 43 hectares are in seedling stage set for harvest in November while the remaining 41 hectares are in vegetative and production stages due for harvest in October and September, respectively.
Masculino told farmers to immediately report any damage to their crops due to calamities to avail of buffer stocks like seeds.
He said the OPA continues to assess and validate possible damage in other localities.
In January this year, the OPA recorded about PHP22 million worth of damage to crops due to heavy rains and floods brought by the northeast monsoon and Typhoon Agaton.
Negros Occidental has been partnering with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) since 2011 in the implementation of the Negros First Universal Crop Insurance Program (NFUCIP).
In 2017 alone, the PCIC has insured 5,487 farmers in the province with a total area of almost 7,000 hectares through NFUCIP.
A total of 3,938 farmers with a combined area of almost 4,178 hectares received indemnity claims worth PHP17.76 million.
Under the modified guidelines, the enrollment premium per cropping season remains at PHP840, but the whole amount will now be shouldered by the provincial government as a loan.
Previously, the province shouldered only PHP500, while the remaining PHP340 was the counterpart of the farmer-enrollees. (Erwin Nicavera/PNA)
