Farmers in Gokseong-gun Unite in Calling for Crop Disaster Insurance to Cover Monsoon Damage

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Chunsu Kim] The damage to agricultural sites caused by abnormal weather, including an unusually long rainy season, heavy rains, and Typhoon Bavi (Typhoon No. 8), is severe. The recent sharp rise in fruit and vegetable prices is an indicator of how serious the crop damage is.

In particular, open-field crops directly exposed to weather conditions have suffered significant damage. July and August are periods of high temperature and humidity, during which pest and disease damage is severe. Timely pest and disease control during this period is essential to produce marketable agricultural products.

To make matters worse, due to the impact of Typhoon Bavi (Typhoon No. 8), some apple orchards experienced fruit drop damage, causing even normally healthy fruit to fall and increasing the overall damage.

Jae-seong Mun, head of the apple growers' association in Gyeom-myeon, Gokseong-gun, said, “The disease damage caused by the prolonged rainy season is severe. It is not due to negligence in farm management, but the unusually long rainy season is the direct cause. However, insurance companies claim that the rainy season is not a weather disaster and therefore compensation is not possible.” He added, “Even if pest control is done, it is useless. The expansion of disease due to the prolonged rainy season should be considered a weather disaster. I also heard that apples dropped by the typhoon are not considered damaged fruit eligible for compensation,” expressing his frustration.

The voices from the agricultural field are not limited to apple farmers. Most open-field crops have suffered significant damage due to the prolonged rainy season, but since the damage is not caused directly by flooding or typhoons, compensation through disaster insurance is not available.

Crop disaster insurance, first introduced in 2001 and contributing to the stability of farmers' management, compensates for crop damage caused by various natural disasters, leading to increased enrollment among farmers.

To align with the original purpose of crop disaster insurance, which was created to stabilize farmers' management, it is necessary to supplement detailed compensation standards.