Prop up the market "umbrella" for vegetable farmers

Green leafy vegetables are essential dishes on the dining table of Shanghai citizens. Ensuring the stable and balanced supply of real estate vegetables dominated by green leafy vegetables is an important part of relevant government departments and insurance enterprises doing practical things for the people. Shanghai City began to explore green leafy vegetable cost insurance (hereinafter referred to as "vegetable price insurance") since 2006, and has gained some experience for 8 years. The author recently went to Shanghai to carry out a special investigation and had some new understandings.

Shanghai to carry out green leafy vegetable cost price insurance origin

Shanghai residents love green vegetables very much, especially vegetables sold in real estate, chicken feathers, lettuce, rice amaranth, Hangzhou cabbage, etc. Shanghai residents have a saying that "three days do not see green, two eyes see stars". Therefore, the government adopts various means to support the development of vegetable industry, which meets the requirements of local economic and social development. On the basis of implementing projects such as promoting vegetable field construction and promoting facility management, Shanghai City actively promotes green leaf vegetable production insurance in view of the vegetable farmers 'losses caused by natural disasters, which plays a very important role in guaranteeing vegetable supply. However, the vegetables after harvest are also facing the pressure of falling market prices, sometimes the prices fall below the production costs of vegetable farmers, income instability directly affects the enthusiasm of vegetable farmers, and it becomes the biggest extravagant hope of vegetable farmers to recover the costs at the time of harvest. For this reason, Shanghai City timely launched "vegetable price insurance."

Shanghai's vegetable price insurance full name is "Shanghai City green leafy vegetable cost price insurance," is in the green leafy vegetable market price drop situation, through insurance means to plant vegetables farmers part of the cost compensation insurance form. This is different from price insurance in the general sense. Generally understood price insurance is to protect income, if the market price is lower than the target price, insurance will make up for the loss of income. The vegetable price insurance in Shanghai is to compensate the vegetable farmers for part of the production cost after analyzing the decline of the market price, so as to ensure that the vegetable farmers will not lose their production capacity due to the great loss caused by the low price after the harvest, and cannot completely guarantee that the income level of the vegetable farmers will not decrease. This is also different from vegetable production insurance. Vegetable production insurance is in the case of serious natural disasters, insurance companies according to the degree of loss after vegetable production disaster to give vegetable farmers a certain insurance compensation, and has nothing to do with market price fluctuations. Vegetable production insurance and vegetable price insurance complement each other and are important components of vegetable insurance.

Shanghai vegetable price insurance practice

(i) Government support and guidance

Shanghai City Agricultural Committee has continuously increased investment in infrastructure and supporting facilities for vegetable production, which has promoted the relative stability of vegetable production area. In order to better deal with the risks in the vegetable market, Shanghai City has studied and formulated the "Vegetable Price Cost Insurance System" and specially set up a work promotion group for protecting light green leafy vegetables composed of the Municipal Agricultural Committee, the Municipal Finance Bureau, the Municipal Bureau of Statistics, the Municipal Vegetable and Edible Fungi Industry Association and Anxin Agricultural Insurance. Each district and county has also established its own work promotion group according to the municipal organizational model and the municipal work requirements, striving for the support of the financial, policy comprehensive and information departments, and doing a good job in innovation drive. Strengthen the coordination and linkage of work, promote the further implementation of vegetable price insurance work, and lay a foundation for realizing stable production, stable supply and stable price.

(2) Insurance company operation

Established in 2004, Anxin Agricultural Insurance Company is the first professional agricultural insurance company in China and the only one operating agricultural insurance business in Shanghai City. Green leaf vegetable price insurance also started to carry out start-up test in Anxin Agricultural Insurance since 2006. In the process of promotion, it continuously summarized and improved, from underwriting to claim settlement, open and transparent, adhered to the principle of "four ones" of "one product, one household, one phase (one listing period) and one order", strictly insured according to crop, and achieved "vegetable underwriting". District and county agricultural committees also carried out sampling verification on underwriting information. According to the price data system, claim settlement shall be automatically carried out, the loss situation shall be notified to the branch companies of each district and county in time, and the branch companies shall verify the listing situation of green leafy vegetables. For the farmers who have suffered losses on the market, the green channel for claim settlement shall be opened for priority treatment, and the compensation shall be distributed to the farmers as soon as possible.

3) Choose the important seasons

Shanghai City has selected "winter light" and "summer light" as the time period of vegetable price insurance."Winter light" refers to December 15 of the current year to March 15 of the next year, and "summer light" refers to June 25 to September 25 of each year. These two seasons are the off-season of vegetable production, natural disasters are frequent, diseases and insect pests are serious, vegetable price insurance plays a very important role in promoting vegetable farmers 'production and ensuring Shanghai citizens' off-season vegetables. According to the data of Anxin Agricultural Insurance Company, in 2012, the insurance area of "winter light" was 75,000 mu, the insurance area was 49,000 mu, and the compensation amount was 4.98 million yuan, involving more than 1500 households and more than 470 cooperatives. In 2013, the "summer light" insurance covers an area of 126,700 mu, 87,000 mu, and the compensation amount is 6.2346 million yuan, involving more than 2680 households and more than 800 cooperatives.

Shanghai's Experience in Developing Vegetable Price Insurance

(i) Participation of cooperative organizations is key

Because Shanghai City carried out agricultural insurance business relatively early, specialized, organized vegetable professional cooperatives, vegetable leading enterprises all participated in vegetable price insurance. The premium rate of vegetable price insurance is 10%. In order to encourage scattered vegetable growers to participate in insurance and improve the organization and specialization of vegetable production, Anxin Agricultural Insurance encourages retail investors to unite, and preferential rates are implemented for cooperatives, leading enterprises and horticultural farms, with a discount of 20% on the basis of standard rates, which drives scattered farmers to participate in cooperatives. In the investigation, it is found that many vegetable farmers in Qingpu District voluntarily set up vegetable planting cooperatives to win relevant support policies.

(ii) Price data collection is the basis

Vegetable price insurance is an important basis for compensation is the market price, therefore, the collection of price data is the basis. According to the requirements of vegetable price insurance, the current market price is compared with the average price of the previous three years at the same price collection point. Therefore, the collection of historical data and the selection of market price collection points are very important. In addition, agricultural materials, labor costs and other factors are rising year by year, as well as CPI rise and other factors are vegetable price insurance needs to consider.

(iii) Government support is guaranteed

Government support is indispensable in the development of agricultural insurance, especially in vegetable price insurance. Shanghai City's green leafy vegetable insurance is the highest insurance premium subsidy among agricultural insurance in the whole city. The premium subsidy proportion of municipal finance reaches 50%. Each district and county can provide supporting subsidies according to finance, and the premium proportion paid by farmers shall not be less than 10%. Due to the need for balance within the city, the competent agricultural department of Shanghai City shall, according to the resource situation, achieve the "three balances" of balanced sowing, balanced production and balanced listing. If the area exceeds the planned area, the municipal finance department shall not subsidize the premium in principle to ensure that farmers produce according to the plan, which is an important guarantee for the success of the work of "protecting the shortage".

Vegetable price insurance in Shanghai City has taken an important step towards market risk insurance and accumulated valuable experience. How to apply this market insurance method to other agricultural products and other regions still needs further study.