With the El Niño phenomenon in full swing, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is working double time to address weak spots in its crop insurance program, to recoup farm losses that agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) may have incurred due to natural calamities.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III said the DAR, through its Support Services Office, has provided a platform and opportunity for agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBOs) to share their best, innovative, and good practices as accredited insurance underwriters with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC).
He said the SSO technical staff have made rounds in various parts of the country as part of its knowledge and experience sharing cum learning session for the ARBOs to be developed as agri-insurance underwriters/solicitors.
Estrella said the session aimed to determine the gaps in the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries-Agricultural Insurance Program (ARB-AIP) that require immediate attention.
“This knowledge and experience sharing cum learning session will greatly help to further improve our crop insurance program and make it responsive to the needs of our beneficiaries,” Estrella said.
He said the knowledge and experience sharing cum learning session will help the DAR adopt some measures to mitigate the impact of the El Niño phenomenon on the lives of our ARBs and to their livelihood.
The insurance coverage is not limited to damaged crops but also the lives and limbs of insured farmers and members of their families.
Estrella encouraged all ARBs to enlist themselves under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) under the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) database system to enable them to avail themselves of the crop insurance program the DAR and DA are pursuing in partnership with the PCIC.
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