Farmers Affected by Heavy Rain to Receive Disaster Insurance Payments Before Chuseok

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 28th that it plans to promptly complete damage assessments for farms insured under crop disaster insurance that suffered damage due to recent heavy rains, and to pay 50% of the insurance payouts for facility crops and estimated insurance payouts for horticultural facilities from the 29th until before Chuseok. However, for rice/paddy and field crops as well as fruit tree items, insurance payouts will be made after harvest volume surveys during the harvest season.

Crop disaster insurance covers damage caused by natural disasters occurring during the cultivation period for 67 items including apples, pears, and rice. It is operated by NH Nonghyup Property & Casualty Insurance. It covers not only damage to crops but also damage to horticultural facilities such as greenhouses.

According to NH Nonghyup Property & Casualty Insurance, as of the 25th, a total of 15,264 damage reports (0.7% of total subscriptions) were filed, including 1,824 cases of facility crops (3.6% of total subscriptions), 5,124 cases of field crops (3.6%), 3,985 cases of fruit trees (3.1%), 1,926 cases of horticultural facilities (2.3%), and 4,229 cases of rice (0.2%). Among these, facility crop damage by region was highest in Chungnam at 60.7% (1,108 cases), followed by Gyeonggi at 19.3% (352 cases), and Jeonbuk at 9.2% (168 cases). By crop, melons (210 cases), chili peppers (176 cases), and tomatoes (144 cases) were the most affected.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs instructed NH Nonghyup Property & Casualty Insurance to pay insurance claims before Chuseok to help farms, which have high capital needs before Chuseok, overcome difficulties caused by heavy rain damage. Accordingly, NH Nonghyup Property & Casualty Insurance deployed damage assessment personnel to investigate facility crop damage and completed initial investigations of damaged farmland within 5 days of accident reports, currently completing about 56% of damage assessments. The remaining accident reports are planned to have damage assessments completed by the 31st.

For farms with confirmed damage assessment insurance amounts, insurance payouts will be made sequentially from the 29th. However, for farms with damage to horticultural facilities, insurance payouts will be made after facility repairs, but if the farm requests advance payment, 50% of the estimated insurance payout will be paid first. For other rice/paddy, field crops, and fruit tree items, insurance payouts will be finally calculated and paid based on harvest volume surveys during the harvest season.

Park Sujin, Director of Agricultural Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated, "We hope that completing insurance payouts before Chuseok will help stabilize the management of farms that suffered heavy rain damage to crops ahead of the harvest season."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.