(PNA file photo)
MANILA – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is working double-time to help improve and strengthen its crop insurance program, especially with the looming El Niño phenomenon threatening the farming sector.
In a press release issued on Friday, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said among their priorities is to help agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) recoup losses that may have been incurred due to natural calamities.
DAR’s Support Services Office (SSO) 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).
DAR and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are pursuing a partnership with the PCIC.
Estrella said ARBOs around the country are being empowered to teach their members and are being developed to become agri-insurance underwriters/solicitors.
“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,” he said.
He explained that SSO technical personnel visit various ARBOs around the country to determine the gaps in the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries-Agricultural Insurance Program (ARB-AIP), which he stressed, requires immediate attention.
With the experience-sharing during their visits, Estrella said the ARBOs also help DAR adopt some measures to mitigate the impact of the El Niño phenomenon on the lives of the ARBs and to their livelihood.
The insurance coverage is not limited to damaged crops but also the lives of insured farmers and members of their families.
To avail of the crop insurance program, Estrella urged all ARBs to enlist under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) under DA’s database system. (PNA)
