BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 6
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The Rural Development Agency of Georgia (RDA) in the near future intends to launch a large-scale campaign to popularize the state agricultural insurance program among Georgian farmers, Trend reports via Georgian media.
Natalia Kharatishvili, the head of the RDA operational department, said that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic when the possibilities of organizing presentations and wide meetings with farmers in real mode are limited, the campaign will be carried out mainly through various media and online channels.
The state program of agricultural insurance (project "Agricultural insurance") was included in the "Unified agricultural project" implemented by the Rural Development Agency, in 2014, is gradually gaining popularity.
As Kharatishvili noted, the agricultural insurance project covers the following insurance risks: hail, flood, hurricane, and autumn frosts (in the case of citrus fruits). Insurance policies are issued by private insurance companies participating in the project. At the same time, 70 percent of the cost of insurance policies is covered by the state, and the remaining 30 percent - by the farms themselves (except for grapes, where co-financing by the state and the farmer is 50 percent each).
Kharatishvili also drew attention to several nuances in connection with which of the agricultural plots fall under the agricultural insurance program. These are, in particular, plots with an area of up to 5 hectares (in the case of wheat - no more than 30 hectares). The area limitation does not apply to agricultural cooperatives, however, the upper limit of state co-financing of the insurance premium has been set for them - no more than 50,000 lari ($14,535) per insured.
The head of the RDA Operations Department emphasized that a land plot must be registered with the National Public Registry Agency and the Register of Farmers.
Kharatishvili also said that at the initiative of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, a long-term strategy for the development of agricultural insurance was developed, designed to make the program more attractive for both farmers and insurance companies.
According to the Rural Development Agency, during 2020, within the framework of the state agricultural insurance program, a total of 17,881 policies were issued. 18 thousand 178 hectares of land were insured, which is 31 percent more than in 2019. The value of the insured crop is about 161.9 million lari ($47.1 million). The total insurance premium amounted to more than 13.4 million lari ($3.9 million), of which 8.4 million lari ($2.4 million) was co-financing from the RDA. To date, 8 insurance companies are included in the state agricultural insurance program.
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