Choki Wangmo

In what could be a new development in the stale crop insurance scheme, the agriculture ministry and the Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited has reached an insurance tariff agreement.

This, according to Agriculture Minister Yeshey Penjor, means farmers need to bear partial payment for the crop loss while the government will bear 70 percent of the payment.

Tariffs are fixed price lists that determine the premium rates which insurance companies can charge consumers for insurance products.

It includes the proposal for an endowment fund for small scale land holding farmers and insurance scheme for commercial farmers and high scale landholding households.

“We have to consult farmers on the proposal for agreement before the government’s approval,” the Lyonpo said during the ‘meet the press’ yesterday.

In 2019, Lyonpo said that the crop insurance scheme in place was not efficient and sustainable as there was not enough fund.

That same year, the government raised more than Nu 67 million for an endowment fund to prevent farmers from suffering crop and losses to ensure sustainable compensation scheme.

However, it was reported to be non-functional.

Although the government, before the elections pledged to provide crop insurance schemes for farmers to ensure rural prosperity, the National Assembly rejected the Council’s recommendation on making endowment fund for crop and livestock conservation operational to compensate the farmers affected by wildlife in the last Parliament session.

Human-wildlife conflict continues to be a major problem for the farmers across the country.