By order of the Ministry of Agriculture, the standard for subsidizing part of the insurance premium in the agricultural sector has been increased from 50% to 80%. The order will come into force on September 5, 2022. This was reported by ElDala.kz with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture.
An increase in the subsidy rate will reduce the cost of an insurance policy for farmers, making agricultural insurance more accessible.
Since 2020, a new insurance system in the agro-industrial complex has been operating in Kazakhstan, which is voluntary. Currently, the following insurance products in crop and livestock production are approved:
- soil moisture deficit index insurance;
- soil moisture index insurance;
- soil moisture deficit index insurance for winter crops;
- insurance of cattle, small cattle, horses and birds.
In crop production, cereals (wheat, oats, barley, corn), winter crops and oilseeds are subject to insurance.
There is also a biomass index insurance product that provides for monitoring of the "vegetation optical depth" index based on passive microwave remote sensing. Vegetation optical depth captures the relative amount of water in plants and provides indications of vegetation growth and biomass.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the insurers are: IC Jýsan Garant JSC, IC VICTORIA JSC, IC Nomad Insurance JSC, IC Amanat JSC and IC London-Almaty JSC. Risks within these insurance products are reinsured in international reinsurance companies with an “A” rating in the global insurance market: SWISS RE (Switzerland), HANNOVER RE (Germany), MUNICH RE (Germany), which provide guaranteed payments in the event of insured events.
The agricultural insurance operator is the Agrarian Credit Corporation. All procedures - from the conclusion of the contract to payments, are carried out online through the information system. The insured event is fixed on the basis of earth remote sensing data, which makes it possible to completely eliminate the human factor in the system. Moisture level is monitored on an ongoing basis, and the fact of an insured event is recorded automatically.