“Demand for insurance coverage of agricultural crops continues to grow rapidly in the country. According to data received by the National Union of Agricultural Insurers as of May 31, since the beginning of the year, Russian farmers have insured more than 2.5 million hectares of crops under state support. For comparison, a year earlier, the crop insurance indicator was almost 1.7 million hectares. Thus, in comparison with the same period last year, the growth of insured areas amounted to more than 46%,” said the President of the NSA Korney Bizhdov.
Among the main reasons for the growth, the President of the NSA named the measures introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation to stimulate insurance in crop production, promptly bringing subsidies to farmers and earlier than last year, the timing of the sowing season. Also, a significant role was played by the increased interest of farmers in the new crop insurance program in case of loss due to emergencies.
In the structure of the area insured this year, contracts under the emergency insurance program already account for 36% - 895 thousand hectares of crops (against 535 thousand hectares in 2022). Among the largest in terms of insurance volumes under the regional emergency program are the Omsk region (220 thousand hectares); Republic of Tatarstan (105.4 thousand ha) and Samara region (85.6 thousand ha).
At the same time, the growing demand is also demonstrated by the multi-risk program already familiar to farmers, under which more than 1.6 million hectares of crops were insured in 5 months, which is 430 thousand hectares more than in the same period last year.
In the livestock segment, 4.4 million conditional heads of farm animals have been insured since the beginning of the year, which is 7% less than as of May 31, 2022 (4.7 million). On the other hand, insurance of aquaculture facilities increased by 18% - up to 1.7 million conditional heads (1.4 million in 2022).
In general, compared to last year, the agricultural insurance market with state support for 5 months grew by 11% - up to 4 billion rubles, against 3.6 billion rubles a year earlier.
“The agro-climatic situation developing in the first half of this year turned out to be much less favorable for farmers than last year. Growers in different regions have already suffered losses from winter risks, primarily ice crust, spring frosts, hurricane and hail events, as well as soil drought. The risks of livestock breeders associated with outbreaks of epizootics, primarily ASF and bird flu, are also aggravated. In this regard, the NSA strongly recommends that agricultural producers use insurance protection tools to ensure the financial stability of their enterprises,” Korney Bizhdov emphasized.
According to the Federal Law N 260-F3 "On State Support in the Sphere of Agricultural Insurance", in Russia, within the framework of a centralized system, state support is provided for insurance of risks of crop production, livestock breeding and commercial aquaculture. Only insurance companies that are members of a single all-Russian association, the National Union of Agricultural Insurers, have the right to conclude insurance contracts with state support. Insurance is carried out on the basis of uniform standard rules for each insurance program provided for in the agricultural insurance system.
