The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on 6th that it will increase the subjects of agricultural income loss insurance to a total of 15 items this year.
Agricultural income loss insurance is a system that compensates for income loss due to market price declines in addition to damages covered by existing disaster insurance such as natural disasters, fires, and pests. If the income of a farming household for specific items falls below a certain standard, the difference is paid out as insurance money.
Among the 15 items newly included in this year's insurance, 9 items such as sweet potatoes, corn, soybeans, and sesame can be subscribed to anywhere in the country. The remaining 6 items, including rice and spring potatoes, will be piloted primarily in certain major producing areas. Among these, spring potatoes will be available for insurance enrollment starting from the 7th.
However, since agricultural income loss insurance partially overlaps with existing crop disaster insurance in terms of coverage, farmers must choose to enroll in only one of the two products. Insurance enrollment and detailed requirements can be confirmed through local NongHyup or livestock cooperative associations.
Yoon Won-seup, Director of Agricultural Policy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, “We will expand the subjects of income loss insurance to 30 items in the future so that farmers can respond more stably to disasters and price fluctuations.”