The Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) is urging farmers who are cultivating rain-fed rice fields to insure their crops on or before the Nov. 15 cut-off date.

Clogene Galuego, PCIC-Antique head, said in an interview on Thursday that they have set the cut-off date because of the drought currently affecting the province.

“Farmers had already been discouraged by their Municipal Agriculture Officers (MAOs) from planting rice because of the forecast drought due to the El Niño phenomenon,” Galuego said.

He said the PCIC is giving these farmers only until Nov. 15 to establish their rice crops and have them insured so they can receive indemnity checks once damage is reported.

He further said that for a hectare of damaged rice land, a farmer can receive PHP25,000 if the farm is impaired due to lack of water or attacked by pests and diseases.

“As of October, there are already 20,822 rice farmers who have insured their crops, with only a minimal number of them having submitted their notice of loss or reported their damage due to drought to the PCIC,” Galuego said.

He further said that the total number of rice farmers who have insured their crops work on both rain-fed and irrigated areas.

“As for the irrigated areas, we have not set a cut-off date for the insurance yet until such time perhaps that the National Irrigation Administration will make an announcement on water shortage,” he said.

Galuego said that the PCIC insurance for rice crops is free for farmers registered with the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture.

“Farmers just have to approach their MAOs so they can be assisted in filling out the insurance forms that are available at their offices,” he said.

He advised farmers to insure their rice crops within 30 days of planting and to report their damaged crops 20 days before harvest.

Farmers who see that about 10 percent of their planted rice has already been damaged may report to the PCIC so that its personnel or an adjuster can visit the farmland for assessment. (PNA)