By Mark L. Garcia
Bacolod City –The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation paid a total of P41.8 million worth of insurance claims to some 9,000 farmers in Negros Occidental in 2017.
PCIC Neg. Occ. head Jose Maria Torres said that a total of P41,755,457.83 was paid to 8,980 Negrense farmers in 2017 covering 8,368.62 hectares.
He said that the claims covered crops damaged by several calamities like typhoons, flooding, pest, and crop disease infestations in the farm areas.
The records also showed that crop insurance covered 21,724 rice farmers with 21,910.98 hectares of land, Torres said.
A total of 27,879 farmers and fisherfolk last year also availed of the Accident and Dismemberment Security Scheme (ADSS) program which gives them insurance coverage of P50,000 annually.
Under this program, P1.35 million was also paid to beneficiaries of 27 individuals who had died, he said.
Torres said the agency continues to accept insurance enrollments from farmers in Negros Occidental.
He said that about P350 million of full insurance premiums for farmers, fisherfolk, and livestock raisers in Western Visayas, under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) of PCIC will be allotted in 2018.
Of Region 6’s P350 million fund, about P70 million in premium subsidy will go to Negros Occidental, he added.