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Agricultural microinsurance is a promising risk management tool for smallholder farmers. However, adoption rates remain low and only a small share of farmers renew their policy after the first period. With the increasing availability of cell phones, mobile-delivered insurance is gaining importance on the market. As for any agricultural microinsurance, it is essential for the longevity of a mobile-delivered insurance scheme to retain a solid customer base. To date, it is unknown what drives the decision to renew a mobile-delivered agricultural microinsurance policy. We address this question by performing mean comparisons and logistic regressions based on primary data collected from 479 smallholder farmers in Mali who purchased a mobile-delivered weather index-based insurance in 2020. Results show that the level of satisfaction with the insurance product was considerably higher among farmers who renewed. We found low levels of understanding of the product among all clients, but especially among those who did not renew. Both factors were confirmed as drivers for renewal. Consistent with previous findings, receiving a payout had the strongest effect on the decision to renew. We conclude that additional measures to foster client satisfaction as well as to promote understanding of agricultural insurance among smallholder farmers are highly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme abiotic stress factors such as hail, defoliation, salinity, and moisture stress can affect the biosynthesis of essential oils. To mitigate this, most commercial farmers globally use agricultural crop insurance; however, this is not the case for most smallholder and emerging farmers in southern Africa, as agricultural insurance tends to be expensive when included in the production system. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the comparative effects between two elicitors: abscisic acid (ABA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on essential oil biosynthesis of simulated hail-damaged rose geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L’Hér.) as an alternative strategy to improve the essential oil biosynthesis following severe hail damage of rose geranium. The study was conducted in a 72 m2 temperature-controlled greenhouse, using a 4 x 2 factorial treatment design arranged in a randomized complete block design. Treatments comprised four levels of two elicitors at 75 µM (ABA), 150 µM (ABA), 10 mM (MeJA), and 20 mM (MeJA), applied in two different application periods (daily application for either 7 or 14 days). The simulation of hail damage was through 100% defoliation, with decapitation of the terminal buds. A significant interaction was observed between the elicitor treatment, and length of the period of application on essential oil yield (mass), where the highest yield was observed when MeJA (10 mM) was applied for seven consecutive days compared to the 14-day treatment. Geraniol esters were partially improved by the application of MeJA at 10 mM. Application of the two elicitors improved citronellol, geraniol, and linalool, regardless of the length of the period of application. The citronellol to geraniol ratio, a determining factor of essential oil quality, was 2.7:1 when MeJA was applied at 10 mM, significantly better than any application level of ABA. Therefore, it could be concluded that the application of MeJA at 10 mM may improve the essential oil biosynthesis of haildamaged rose geranium plants compared to ABA at any level, and this may be adopted as a possible mitigating strategy by the emerging farmers and growers in southern Africa for improving the biosynthesis of rose geranium post hail damage. On the other hand, where growers are interested in higher contents of linalool and citronellol, ABA may be used at any level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A relatively high share of small-scale farmers in China is living in a precarious environment that limits their productivity. Moreover, small-scale farmers are among the most vulnerable population characterized by the lack of capital, therefore, they face difficulties in coping with the negative effects of climate risk. A good financial system is among the numerous solutions to help farmers to be more resilient to external risks. However, the traditional financial system often excludes the most vulnerable population. Therefore, this study attempts to understand the relationship between climate risk, digital inclusive finance, and the income of the farmers. Specifically, we want to verify if digital inclusive finance mitigates the impact of climate risk, thus increasing the income of farmers. For that, we used panel data from 288 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2020. We found that climate risk decreases the income of farmers, and the magnitude of the effect of climate risk is higher for middle and low-income farmers, for cities with a relatively low level of agricultural insurance, and in the northern region. Thus, climate risk increases the income gap between farmers and between urban and rural areas. Moreover, we found that digital inclusive finance, the coverage breadth, usage depth, and digitalization level of digital finance mitigate the adverse effect of climate risk on the income of farmers. This paper provides new perspectives for policymakers to mitigate the effect of climate risk on the income of farmers, improve the ability of farmers to adapt to climate change and reduce the income gap between farmers and between urban-rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meteorological disasters are one of the major risks to agricultural production, causing huge losses to agriculture. Agricultural insurance is an important part of the agricultural security system and can effectively spread agricultural risks and losses. Weather index insurance, which emerged in the late 1990s, has received a lot of attention, research, and applications due to its objectivity, standardization, and robust liquidity. In this paper, authors analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of weather index insurance compared to traditional agricultural insurance. The development of weather index insurance technology at home and abroad was reviewed. Authors introduced the development and practical application of weather index insurance model for Anhui grain crops (winter wheat, one season rice, summer corn), and discussed and prospected the future development of weather index insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective policies for adaptation to climate change require understanding how impacts are related to exposures and vulnerability, the dimensions of the climate system that will change most and where human impacts will be most draconian, and the institutions best suited to respond. Here, we propose a simple method for more credibly pairing empirical statistical damage estimates derived from recent weather and outcome observations with projected future climate changes and proposed responses. We first analyze agricultural production and loan repayment data from Brazil to understand vulnerability to historical variation in the more predictable components of temperature and rainfall (trend and seasonality) as well as to shocks (both local and over larger spatial scales). This decomposed weather variation over the past two decades explains over 50% of the yield variation in major Brazilian crops and, critically, can be constructed in the same way for future climate projections. Combining our estimates with bias-corrected downscaled climate simulations for Brazil, we find increased variation in yields and revenues (including more bad years and worse outcomes) and higher agricultural loan default at midcentury. Results in this context point to two particularly acute dimensions of vulnerability: Intensified seasonality and local idiosyncratic shocks both contribute to worsening outcomes, along with a reduced capacity for spatially correlated ("covariate") shocks to ameliorate these effects through prices. These findings suggest that resilience strategies should focus on institutions such as water storage, financial services, and reinsurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on panel data of the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2012 to 2021. The entropy weight method is used to evaluate the level of high-quality agricultural development in this economic belt, and the convergence model is used for convergence analysis. Finally, the Tobit model is used to analyze the impact of agricultural insurance on high-quality agricultural development. Research has found that:①the high-quality development level of agriculture in the entire Yangtze River Economic Belt is in the middle stage, and overall shows a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. Among various regions, the high-quality development level of agriculture in the upper reaches is higher than the middle and lower reaches, with the middle reaches being the lowest. Among various provinces (cities), Shanghai, Chongqing, and Guizhou have higher levels of high-quality agricultural development, with Shanghai having the highest level of development, while Hubei, Hunan, and Zhejiang Province have lower levels of development. ②The high-quality development of agriculture in the Yangtze River Economic Belt shows a trend of “divergence followed by convergence, and then divergence followed by convergence”. In each region, the development trend of the middle and downstream regions is generally similar, while there are significant differences in the upstream. ③The impact of the scale of agricultural insurance development on the high-quality development of agriculture in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is significantly negative, while the impact of guarantee level and compensation level on the high-quality development of agriculture in the economic belt is significantly positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing agricultural productivity and reducing carbon emissions are two major challenges that China faces. This paper explores how agricultural insurance affects agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) that addresses these two challenges. First, we adopt DDF-GML to measure AGTFP, and the Dagum's Gini decompositions results show the large differences in AGTFP, with transvariation between subregions contributing the most. Second, we find the U-shaped effect of agricultural insurance on AGTFP in a large country context. The result remains robust after adjusting for time, sample and estimation method of AGTFP. We also construct instrumental variables from the minimum distance from the centroid of counties within a province to the 45 ports in China and two-stage lagged agricultural insurance penetration (AIP) for AIP, and their squares as instrumental variables for AIP2. The conclusion remains robust in 2SLS model. Third, the findings confirm three channels for agricultural insurance to influence the AGTFP: environmentally friendly production, labor inputs and operation scale. We further propose policy advice to promote China's agricultural modernization and point out further research directions in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the panel data of agricultural insurance and grain production in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2020, this paper uses the Global-Malmquist-Leuenberger model to calculate and analyze the green total factor productivity of grain in the economic belt, and uses the Tobit model to analyze the impact of agricultural insurance on the green total factor productivity of grain. The results show that: ① The average green total factor productivity of grain in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is less than 1, which indicates that the green total factor productivity of grain in the economic belt shows a downward trend in 2011-2020. The main reason is that the technological progress of green production of grain is hindered, and the effect of technological progress is correspondingly reduced. ② The agricultural insurance premium income density has a significant negative effect on the whole and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and has a significant promoting effect on the upper and middle reaches; The depth of agricultural insurance premium income and the compensation rate have a significant promoting effect on the Yangtze River Economic Belt and all regions. The density of agricultural insurance compensation expenditure has a significant promoting effect on the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the lower reaches, and has a significant negative effect on the upper and middle reaches; The depth of agricultural insurance compensation expenditure has a significant negative effect on the Yangtze River Economic Belt and other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural sector in Moldova is highly exposed to natural factors and hazards, resulting in uncertain incomes and high production volatility. Crop insurance plans against different risks plays a crucial role in supporting farmers' yield and revenues. The aim of this paper is to assess the development of subsidizing production risk insurance policy as a method to enhance agricultural resilience and alleviate the effects of climate change in Moldova. The analyzed data is based on the analysis of regulatory documents for policies regarding subsidizing productions risks insurance. For data analysis, secondary data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and Agency of Interventions and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA) was used. The data refer to the amount of subsidies applications for risks insurance, insured areas cultivated with different crops and its harvests, main risks insured by farmers, distribution of subsidies for risks insurance by development regions and the insurance companies. The subsidization of crop production risk insurance in Moldova has played a vital role in bolstering agricultural resilience and minimizing the adverse effects of climate change. By offering assistance to farmers and promoting the implementation of risk management practices, the government's objective is to stabilize income levels and promote sustainable growth in the agricultural sector. Nevertheless, it is crucial to continuously monitor and evaluate these policies to ensure their efficacy and fair distribution of subsidies across various regions and insurance providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable and efficient grain production has been one of the most important challenges in modern agriculture in recent years. Agricultural planting structure has always been in the dynamic adjustment between "non-grain" and "grain-oriented" in China. The incentive effect of various subsidies on grain production has gradually weakened with market-oriented reforms, as well as the ever-increasing production and operation modes. The cost-effective public investment can be expected to serve as a policy tool for the long-term national food security. The construction of high-standard farmland is of great significance to optimize the agricultural planting structure in the various regions. In this study, a quasi-natural experiment was performed on China's high-standard farmland construction policy that was launched in 2010. China's provincial panel data was selected between 2005 and 2017. A continuous differences-in-differences model was constructed with the interaction of the highstandard farmland construction area. The core explanatory variable was utilized as the dummy variable for the duration of policy implementation. An empirical test was then carried out to determine the impact of the high-standard farmland construction policy on the "grain-oriented" evolution of the planting structure. Furthermore, the mechanism variables were introduced, such as the scale of farmland circulation, the increase of total agricultural machinery power, and the level of grain planting specialization. The inherent mechanism and transmission path were then revealed using a two-stage estimation model. The results showed: 1) The baseline regression analysis showed that the high-standard farmland construction policy posed a positive effect on the "grain-oriented" planting structure, which increased the proportion of grain crop planting by an average of 7.5%. Four methods were used for robustness testing, including placebo testing by changing the policy implementation time point, replacing core explanatory variables, considering the lag in policy implementation effects, and considering interfering policies such as grain subsidies, farmland rights confirmation, and agricultural insurance. 2) A joint hypothesis test was conducted on the coefficients before the policy implementation. The baseline model followed the parallel trend test. Furthermore, the dynamic impact analysis showed that there was an enhanced impact each year, as the scope and scale of highstandard farmland construction expanded. The cumulative effects were coupled with the ever-increasing soil fertility and agricultural infrastructure. 3) The impact mechanism analysis showed that the implementation of policies drove the evolution of planting structure towards "grain-oriented" via three pathways: the scale effect brought by land transfer, the improvement of grain planting revenue under mechanized operations, and the realization of external scale economy by upgrading the specialization level of grain planting. Therefore, high-standard farmland construction planning should be strictly implemented to actively adopt farmland engineering measures, such as field leveling, consolidation, and centralized contiguous management, in order to promote the transformation of low- and medium-yielding fields and comprehensive management of agricultural ecology. At the same time, the farmland transfer market can be expected to steadily develop for the high level of agricultural mechanization and agricultural socialization services, with emphasis on the specialization of grain planting. The policy impact of "storing grain on the ground" can also be realized in the construction of high-standard farmland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural production plays an important role in the global economy, contributing greatly to the supply of food resources and human well-being. Mapping the areas of agricultural coverage and calculating their respective average annual production values is useful for orienting food security strategies, in a context of climate change and a growing global population. Despite their importance, today no complete and updated maps exist for all types of crops. To provide this critical data lack, we have harmonized statistical datasets at a regional level of detail across Europe (EU-27) to develop a unified dataset consisting of the best available data in the context of agricultural monitoring activities carried out by the CREA. This document illustrates the methodologies adopted to create an harmonized database and an open and easy-to-use cartographic atlas of agricultural area and production, based on accessible, interoperable and reusable data available from Eurostat. The availability of detailed maps of area and crop production at a regional level can help optimize a wide range of agricultural monitoring, ranging from early warning on phytopathological conditions, to assessment of crop conditions, to production forecasts and the assessment of damage caused by extreme weather events, agricultural statistics, agricultural insurance and climate mitigation and adaptation actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have argued for the importance of industrial accidents and urban precarity in laying the groundwork for the European welfare state in nineteenth-century France. Given the central role that farming played in French economic, political, and cultural life, however, agricultural insurance was among the first and most frequently debated aspects of nineteenth-century attempts to apply insurance to the "social question." This article explores what François Ewald has termed the "insurantial imaginary" of agricultural insurance by examining debates about which threats could or should be insured and who should insure them. Despite widespread consensus on the virtues of expanding insurance into the countryside, there remained huge areas of disagreement: What counted as an insurable risk in agriculture? How should that risk be assessed? And whose responsibility was it to insure such risks--that of private individuals or the French state? This article argues that the repeated failures of the various proposals designed to protect peasants against the vagaries of nature had as much to do with practical impediments as they did with ideas about the "naturalness" of certain dangers. This perception of the "natural" would inform the construction of the French welfare state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice farming experiences uncertainty and is a business that is very vulnerable to climate change such as natural disasters, floods and droughts, and is inseparable from attacks by plant-disturbing organisms (OPT), which result in decreased production and income of rice farmers. Agricultural Insurance is a transfer of risk that can provide compensation for losses due to farming so that the sustainability of farming can be guaranteed. This study aims to: 1) Know the response of farmers to the rice farming insurance program plan. 2) Knowing the response of farmers to the implementation of the rice farming insurance program and 3) Knowing the response of farmers to the impact of the farming insurance program. This study uses descriptive quantitative research methods with survey research techniques. Respondents consisted of the number of farmers who took part in the rice farming insurance program at least 2 times using the census technique with a total sample of 29 people. Data analysis technique using descriptive quantitative analysis. The results showed that: 1) The response of farmers to the planned rice farming insurance program in Gapoktan, Patalagan Village, Pancalang District, Kuningan Regency was very good. 2) The response of farmers to the implementation of the rice farming insurance program in Patalagan Village is good. 3) The response of farmers to the impact of the rice farming insurance program in Patalagan Village, Pancalang District, Kuningan Regency is Good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the potential benefits of agricultural insurance in helping farmers adapt to climate risks, its uptake among smallholder farmers remains limited. This study analyses the drivers of awareness and adoption of agricultural insurance in Nigeria to better understand the adoption process. 1,080 farming households were surveyed across six agro-ecological zones in Nigeria, covering areas with different socio-economic characteristics of farmers and levels of climate risk. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews between October 2020 and February 2021. The results show that more than half of the farmers were unaware of agricultural insurance. Logit regression results show that education, herd size, access to a bank, weather information, and flood experience positively influence awareness and adoption of agricultural insurance. In addition to low awareness, the main barriers to adoption are lack of knowledge about the effectiveness of insurance, difficulty in affording insurance, and farmers' low level of trust in insurance providers. Late payment of claims and inadequate compensation were the main challenges faced by adopters of agricultural insurance. Raising awareness and helping farmers to assess the effectiveness of agricultural insurance, as well as developing a supportive institutional environment, would help to build a well-functioning insurance market. Key policy insights To increase the uptake of agricultural insurance, it is first necessary to raise awareness among farmers. Government agencies should consider monitoring and sanctioning insurance agencies and companies that fail to comply with contractual agreements to promote and ensure prompt payment of due compensation; to increase transparency of insurance providers' performance; and to increase confidence in insurance providers. We recommend using different premium payment methods, adjusting land policies, improving access to weather information, and increasing access to bank credit for smallholder farmers to increase farmers' motivation to use insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main obstacles to implementing the Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program (CCFGP) is the risk of returning forest and grassland to cropland when their livelihoods are challenged after subsidies expire. The implementation of the new old-age insurance system for rural residents has weakened the economic security function of cropland and may motivate farmers to engage in the CCFGP spontaneously and permanently. Based on the utility theory, this paper first developed a theoretical analysis framework for the behaviors of farmers who participated in the CCFGP and were affected by the new old-age insurance system. Then, based on the data of 18 789 fixed rural observation stations set by the Rural Economy Research Center of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Probit model was used to empirically analyze the impact of the new old-age insurance system on farmers' behaviors in the CCFGP. Finally, the robustness of the results was tested using a logistic regression model based on clustering robust standard errors. The results showed that: ① The new old-age insurance system increased expected income, while the CCFGP reduced expected income, but the extra spare time after the action increased farmers' utility. The theoretical analysis framework showed that: the behaviors of farmers participating in the new old-age insurance system affected the amount of arable land, thus affecting the behaviors of farmers' participation in the conversion of cropland to forest and grassland. ② After farmers' participation in the new agricultural insurance, they were more likely to adopt the behaviors associated with the conversion of cropland to forest and grassland. The new oldage insurance system increased the income channels for elderly farmers, thereby weakening the economic security function of cultivated land and, to a certain extent, promoting farmers to take part in the CCFGP. ③ In the robustness test, the logistic regression model with clustering robust standard errors still confirmed the conclusion that 'participating in the new old-age insurance system is beneficial for farmers joining the CCFGP.' ④ The poorer the health conditions of farmers, the lower the possibility of joining the CCFGP. Poor health conditions generally meant large medical expenses, greater uncertainty in future income, and strong dependence on cultivated land, which resulted in farmers' reluctance to be involved in the CCFGP. Farmers with higher original values of productive fixed assets were more likely to join the CCFGP. The policy implications of the conclusions are that it may be more effective to integrate the new old-age insurance system for rural residents with the CCFGP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security is of great importance to all countries. Correspondingly, agricultural price insurance is an important tool to maintain food security. This study adopts the traditional spider web model to establish a mathematical framework for exploring the internal mechanism of agricultural price insurance, which can ease the volatility of the agricultural market. Then, the influence of agricultural price insurance on the supply of agricultural products is examined. The findings show that the supply elasticity of most agricultural products is greater than the demand elasticity, with agricultural product markets presenting a natural divergence. Agricultural price insurance changes the supply curve of agricultural products by reducing their supply elasticity, subsequently positively affecting the reduction of price fluctuation and the stabilisation of outputs. Agricultural price insurance can even change agricultural product markets under certain conditions, allowing a shift from divergence to convergence. Moreover, by adjusting the insurance parameters of agricultural prices, the equilibrium yield and price can be changed, and the planting area and income of farmers can be maximised. The mathematical basis for agricultural insurance derived in this study can support food security strategies at the national level and further provide a theoretical basis to formulate policies and departmental measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malatya is an important production centre of apricots in Turkey, and the world. However, a major problem causing product loss, is late spring frosts. Cold damages the flowers and thus, fruit set and yield decrease. As a result, the farmer's income fluctuates from year to year. This study, stated apricot farmers demographics, and technical features of 52 interviewed apricot farms, in Malatya. Also, conjoint analysis (CA) is used to identify the farmers' preferences for agricultural insurance attributes. This method investigated the joint effect of a set of independent variables, on an ordinal scale of a measurement-dependent variable. Of the farmers, 76.9% have done agricultural insurance last year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultivation of Chinese cabbage is a crucial source of daily vegetable supply for both human consumption and livestock feed, particularly in East Asian countries. However, changes in global climate and land usage have resulted in significant shifts in the ecological conditions suitable for Chinese cabbage production, thereby threatening its productivity. To address this issue, this study was conducted to map the bio-geophysical suitability of Chinese cabbage in East Asia (Japan, Northeast China, South Korea, and North Korea) from 2001 to 2020. This study integrated six key factors—temperature, rainfall, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), soil nitrogen, soil pH, and soil texture—into a seasonal and monthly bio-geophysical suitability assessment using a GIS-based Analytic Hierarchy Process–Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making Analysis (AHP-MCDA). The levels of bio-geophysical suitability were categorized into four levels: optimal, suitable, marginal, and unsuitable. The findings of the study firstly indicate that summer is the optimal season for Chinese cabbage cultivation, as it was found to have the highest level of optimal suitability among the four seasons in East Asia. South Korea has the largest percentage of optimal and suitable areas compared to the other three countries. Secondly, this study also conducted a comparison analysis between bio-geophysical suitability and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) over 20 years, and the results show good consistency between the two indicators, with the highest R2 value being 0.61. Thirdly, the comparison between bio-geophysical suitability and production data in two villages in Japan demonstrates that an increase in suitability from 0.28 to 0.32 indicates a significant increase in production. Production would stay stable even with further increases in suitability. Finally, two case studies with monthly comparisons of bio-geophysical suitability across Japan and East Asia in 2020 provide an effective benchmark for determining optimal sowing and harvest times. This study's results can provide important insights into the trade of Chinese cabbage and support the development of agricultural insurance programs both for farmers and insurance companies. Furthermore, this approach may also be applicable for the assessment of the suitability of other crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: There are nearly 240 million children living with disabilities worldwide - 1 in 10 of all children. The Polish disability certification system is characterized by a significant level of complexity. At the same time the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (KRUS) and poviat/city disability adjudication teams, voivodeship disability adjudication teams/councils, the Ministry of Family and Social Policy supervising poviat and voivodeship teams/councils issue different certificates. The system is complemented by the appeals to the court which resolve complaints against the decisions of voivodship teams. Children are considered individuals under 16 years of age. They can get a disability certificate if necessary. The aim of the study was to investigate the characteristics of children obtaining a disability certificate due to diseases of the locomotor system in Lublin within the last 16 years. Material and methods: The authors asked the Municipal Disability Adjudication Council in Lublin to provide data on the number of disability certificates issued for children up to 16 years of age in the years 2006-2021.The data used for the analysis come from the electronic system that collects and processes them according to the assumed patterns. Results: In the years 2006-2021 the Municipal Disability Adjudication Council in Lublin issued 9,929 disability certificates for children up to 16 years of age. The total number of certificates issued because of musculoskeletal disorders was 1,085 (mean 68/year). Majority of the recipients were 8-16 years old. There were 524 girls (mean 32.75/year) and 561 boys (mean 35.06/year). Conclusions: In children musculoskeletal problems are in the third position after diseases of the respiratory tract and developmental disorders as the reason for obtaining a disability certificate in Lublin. Comparing this data with others, it can be concluded that the situation is similar to data from developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors investigate whether an index-based weather insurance (WII) product can complement or replace existing traditional crop yield insurance for mitigating farmers' financial risks, with an application to blueberry growers in British Columbia (BC). Design/methodology/approach: A hybrid model combining expected utility (EU) and prospect values is developed to analyse farmers' demand for WII. Findings: While weather data are used to investigate supply elements, a hybrid model combining EU theory and prospect theory (PT) is developed to analyse farmers' demand for WII. On the supply side, a quality index is constructed and the relationship between the quality index and key weather parameters is quantified using a partial least squares structural model. The authors then model weather parameters via time-series analysis and statistical distributions to provide reasonable estimates for calculating actuarially sound insurance premiums for a rainfall indexed, insurance product. This model indicates that decreases in the proportion of a blueberry grower's total revenue and revenue volatility will decrease the possibility that they participate in WII. At the same time, an increase in the value loss aversion coefficient and WII's basis risk further leads to less demand for WII. In short, a grower may decide not to participate in WII at an actuarially fair premium due to the combined effects of the above factors. Overall, while the supply analysis enables us to demonstrate that WII can potentially help in mitigating farmers' financial risks, it turns out that, on the demand side, blueberry growers are unwilling to pay for such a product without large government subsidies. Originality/value: The authors argue that the demand for insurance may be affected by the level and the volatility of a berry grower's total revenue. Hence, the authors propose a hybrid expression that assumes a farmer seeks to maximize the total utility function to capture the rational and intuitive parts of a farmer's decision-making process. The EU represents rationality and the prospect value represents the intuitive component. Meanwhile, the authors investigate the possibility of using key weather parameters to construct a berry quality index – one that could be applied to other agricultural areas for studying the relationship between weather conditions and product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine the differences and the importance of the differences in terms of some socio-economic factors and agricultural practices of the producers who had soil analysis in Edirne and Tekirdağ provinces and to evaluate the opinions of the producers about soil analysis and soil analysis subsidies. Three laboratories were selected among the laboratories with the highest number of sample acceptances for soil analysis in the provinces determined in the study. For each province, total of 60 producers who applied to the laboratories in 2015 and who utilized from soil analysis subsidies, and consequently, total of 120 producers were interviewed. The analysis of the differences of the producers who had soil analysis in Edirne and Tekirdağ provinces was determined by the regression tree model (CHAID analysis). According to the CHAID analysis, in which the provinces were taken as the dependent variable, it was seen that the first most distinctive feature was the state-supported agricultural insurance. Of the producers who stated that they did not have agricultural insurance, 31% were located in Edirne and 69% were located in Tekirdağ. It was seen that 56% of the producers in Edirne and 44% of the producers in Tekirdağ had agricultural insurance. The most important feature of the second node was the education level of the producers, the third sub-node decision point was whether the producers had training on fertilization, and the fourth decision point was whether the producers faced risks in agriculture in the last three years. The four most important reasons for the producers to have soil analysis in Edirne province were to increase the product yield, to reduce the cost, to increase product quality and protect the environment, respectively. In the province of Tekirdağ, the criteria of increasing the product yield was on the first rank, increasing the product quality in the second rank, reducing the cost in the third rank and protecting the environment in the fourth rank. It is expected that it will be beneficial to introduce soil analysis conditions to the producers at the stage of purchasing fertilizers, and thus to ensure that the producer purchases fertilizer by determining the type and amount of fertilizer to be disposed of according to the analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges smallholders face in agricultural management between developed and developing countries differ and can also impact the smallholder's well-being. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that affect the well-being of smallholders. We conducted a systematic literature by applying the Preferred Reported Item for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) and extracted 30 articles from Scopus and Web of Science. These articles show three main factors that drive well-being: technology, optimal resource, and insurance, and two additional factors: market pricing and tax policy. Findings show that all the above factors will first impact economic well-being and, subsequently, social well-being. When COVID-19 struck, the smallholder's well-being was also affected in addition to the destabilised food chain. Travel restrictions have led to a labour shortage. The smallholders had to turn to e-commerce to sell their products. They also incurred losses and experienced difficulties in procuring agricultural intermediate inputs. The absence of agricultural insurance worsened the impact on the well-being of the smallholders. To safeguard the well-being of these smallholders, the study suggests that stakeholders should encourage local labour participation, increase investment in human capital, adopt e-commerce in marketing, offer agricultural insurance schemes against various disasters and continuously provide or increase subsidies to smallholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lodging is one of the typical abiotic adversities during paddy rice growth. In addition to affecting photosynthesis, it can seriously damage crop growth and development, such as reducing rice quality and hindering automated harvesting. It is, therefore, imperative to accurately and in good time acquire crop-lodging areas for yield prediction, agricultural insurance claims, and disaster-management decisions. However, the accuracy requirements for crop-lodging monitoring remain challenging due to complicated impact factors. Aiming at identifying paddy rice lodging on Shazai Island, Guangdong, China, caused by heavy rainfall and strong wind, a decision-tree model was constructed using multiple-parameter information from Sentinel-1 SAR images and the in situ lodging samples. The model innovatively combined the five backscattering coefficients with five polarization decomposition parameters and quantified the importance of each parameter feature. It was found that the decision-tree method coupled with polarization decomposition can be used to obtain an accurate distribution of paddy rice-lodging areas. The results showed that: (1) Radar parameters can capture the changes in lodged paddy rice. The radar parameters that best distinguish paddy rice lodging are VV, VV+VH, VH/VV, and Span. (2) Span is the parameter with the strongest feature importance, which shows the necessity of adding polarization parameters to the classification model. (3) The dual-polarized Sentinel-1 database classification model can effectively extract the area of lodging paddy rice with an overall accuracy of 84.38%, and a total area precision of 93.18%. These observations can guide the future use of SAR-based information for crop-lodging assessment and post-disaster management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize the great goal of attaining peak carbon in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060, agricultural carbon mitigation must be an essential activity in China. Policy-oriented agricultural insurance is accepted as an effective income guarantee and risk transfer tool, which can not only disperse the risk of agricultural operation but also guide green agricultural production. In this study, based on panel data from 2012 to 2018 in China, a multistage dynamic DID model is constructed to systematically explore the effect of policy-oriented agricultural insurance on green agricultural development, primarily to clarify the specific mechanism of the effect. The results show that agricultural carbon emission is increasing year by year and the implementation of policy-oriented agricultural insurance has a significant positive impact on reducing agricultural carbon emissions. We further find that the promotion effect of agricultural insurance on carbon emission reduction increases with the expansion of agricultural technicians and the decrease of agricultural chemical utilization. In terms of spatial heterogeneity, the impact of the policy-oriented agricultural insurance on reducing agricultural carbon emissions is stronger in central and western regions than in eastern regions. At the same time, this paper provides operational suggestions for low-carbon agricultural development and the formulation of relevant macroeconomic agricultural policies. Our findings support the positive effect of policy-oriented agricultural insurance and provide significant policy implications for agricultural carbon emission reduction and control actions in China and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Lack of access to credit is commonly held responsible for slow agricultural and rural development in low- and middle-income countries. This paper aims to investigate the contribution of demand- and supply-side factors, particularly the role of risk rationing, on credit application and uptake in the case example of Kyrgyzstan. Design/methodology/approach: Toward this aim, the study explores the determinants of credit behavior of 1,738 Kyrgyz sample farm households from 2013 to 2016 waves of the nationally representative "Life in Kyrgyzstan" (LIK) dataset along a hierarchical regression model, differentiating between factors influencing individual demand for credit and factors influencing supply for credit. Findings: The results of our analysis indicate the relative importance of demand-side factors for credit applications, reflecting farmers' perceived risk of credit default and loss of collateral. Meanwhile, supply-side factors, such as real credit constraints and collateral requests, have a stronger influence on credit uptake rates and overall loan sums. These findings highlight the role of risk rationing for agricultural investment, suggesting a stronger focus of development policy on improving risk-sharing mechanisms for farmers, e.g. by developing the agricultural insurance sector. Originality/value: The paper contributes novel evidence on the role of risk rationing in shaping the demand for formal credits for increasing agricultural and rural investment in low-income transition economies. Previous research has mostly focused on the role of credit supply, thus underrating the potential contribution of individual risk attitude, risk experience and risk sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural insurance can resist risks, ensure agricultural production and operation, boost the agricultural economy, help modern agricultural development, and affect agricultural income. Based on the panel data of China’ s provincial agricultural insurance from 2007 to 2019, this study used the two-way fixed effect model and multiple intermediary effect model to analyze the ‘hematopoietic’ income-increasing effect of agricultural insurance from three aspects: development scale, guarantee level, and compensation level, and carried out endogenous treatment and regional heterogeneity analysis. Meanwhile, based on the perspective of helping the development of modern agriculture and considering the five dimensions of agricultural production scale, mechanization, technology, specialization, and green development, this study used the multiple intermediary effect model to investigate the ‘hematopoietic’ income-increasing mechanism of agricultural insurance affecting agricultural income. The results showed that: ① Agricultural insurance could promote the improvement of agricultural income and had the effect of ‘hematopoietic’ income increase. The compensation level had the greatest impact on agricultural income, which was 8.869%, followed by the guarantee level, which was 4.444%, and the development scale was the weakest, at 0.016%. ② Improving the scale, mechanization, specialization, and green development of agricultural production were effective ways for the development of agricultural insurance to achieve ‘hematopoietic’ income growth, but for the agricultural insurance guarantee level and compensation level, enlarging the scale and improving the mechanization of agricultural production were the only effective ways to increase income. The low guarantee level and compensation level inhibited the intermediary transmission mechanism in the process of agricultural modernization and increasing agricultural income. ③ The role of agricultural insurance in increasing agricultural income was mainly reflected in China’ s mid-western regions, while in the eastern region, agricultural insurance failed to play a ‘hematopoietic’ role in the process of agricultural modernization and increasing agricultural income. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize insurance contracts to effectively improve the benefit of insurance compensation, enhance the directionality of agricultural insurance policies to help farmers engage in agricultural modernization, and implement multi-level differentiated security measures to meet the needs of heterogeneous risk protection, so as to promote the high-quality development of agricultural insurance, agricultural modernization, and rural revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typhoons can generally bring the terrible damage for the agricultural production, particularly in Hainan Island with the frequent occurrence. It is a high demand for the accurate and rapid risk assessment on agricultural typhoon disaster, in order to optimize the layout of agricultural planting for the damage prevention and mitigation. Taking the Hainan Island of south China as the study area, this research aims to construct the assessment index system of agricultural typhoon disaster for the sustainable development countermeasures. Some influencing factors were also selected in the natural disaster system, including the rainfall, wind speed, typhoon occurrence time, digital elevation model data, rivers and watersheds, ratio vegetation index, agricultural population, agricultural output value, cultivated land area, and land area during the occurrence of typhoons over many years. Some considerations were then posed on the risk of disaster-causing factors, the exposure of hazard-formative environments, and the vulnerability of hazard-affected bodies. Eight indicators were illustrated for the risk comprehensive assessment model of agricultural typhoon disaster, including the maximum wind speed accumulation, rainfall accumulation, influence index of terrain factor, river network density, vegetation exposure, agricultural population density, output value per unit area of agricultural land, and the proportion of cultivated land in the land area. The relative importance of each index was scored by 15 experienced experts that engaged in the meteorology, agriculture, hydrology, and geography using analytic hierarchy process. Then, the weight was calculated to evaluate the contribution degree of eight indexes for each Criteria layer and index layer, according to the matrix judgment and consistency. As such, the agricultural typhoon disaster risk was determined from the typhoon occurrence data from 2001 to 2020. The agricultural typhoon disaster risks of cities and counties were divided into five levels: level I, II, III, IV, and V. The results showed that: The high risk of agricultural typhoon disaster was found in the study area, where the risk index was between 0.40 and 0.80, with an average of 0.61. The area of agricultural typhoon disaster risk level III and above were accounted for 74.8%. Spatially, the risk of typhoon disaster in the northern and coastal areas was much higher than that in the central mountainous area. Among them, Qionghai and Haikou cities presented the highest risk, with the disaster risk integrated index of 0.712 and 0.689, respectively. The lowest disaster risk was observed in Baoting, Baisha, Wuzhishan, and Qiongzhong cities, with the integrated index of disaster risk all lower than 0.540. The risk of disaster-causing factors and the exposure of hazard-formative environment for the agricultural typhoon were retained at a high level in northern areas (such as Haikou, Wenchang, Ding'an, and Chengmai), and coastal areas (such as Qionghai, and Danzhou), whereas a low level was found in the central areas (such as Baisha, Qiongzhong, and Wuzhishan). The vulnerability of hazard-affected bodies remained at a high level in Qionghai, Lingshui and Sanya, whereas, a low level in Baisha and Qiongzhong. Three countermeasures were also proposed for the prevention and reduction of agricultural typhoon disaster during sustainable development. Specifically, the layout of agricultural planting can be rationally adjusted for the risk monitoring and early warning, according to the typhoon characteristics and the risk distribution of agricultural typhoon disasters. The investment can be expected to strengthen in agricultural policy insurance. The specific measures included: 1) priority should be given to the typhoon-resistant crops, winter melon, and vegetable planting in the Qiongdong region; 2) an intelligent monitoring and perception network can be established using space-sky-terrestrial integration for the agricultural typhoon disaster risk in remote mountainous areas, while the new remote sensing can be introduced in the areas with developed agricultural activities; 3) to innovate the agricultural insurance underwriting and claim settlement mode. The finding can offer the strong support to the disaster prevention and emergency decision-making for the regions with different disaster risk levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the willingness to pay (WTP) for index-based drought insurance coupled with agricultural loans by product design and gender, using a contingent valuation method. The empirical estimations reveal several important findings. First, females have lower mean WTP than male farmers for each product design. Second, females do not express preference differences between insured loan product designs while males do. In fact, males prefer insured loans that make payouts directly to them and prefer insured loans without design risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we define characteristic axioms for 3D matrix games and extend the definitions of the decision criteria under uncertainty to three dimensions in order to investigate the simultaneous effect of two different states on the decision process. We first redefine the Laplace, Wald, Hurwicz, and Savage criteria in 3D. We present a new definition depending on only the ∞-norm of the 3D payoff matrix for the Laplace criterion in 3D. Then, we demonstrate that the Laplace criterion in 3D explicitly satisfies all the proposed axioms, as well as the other three criteria. Moreover, we illustrate a fundamental example for a three-dimensional matrix with 3D figures and show the usage of each criterion in detail. In the second example, we model a decision process during the COVID-19 pandemic for South Korea to show the applicability of the 3D decision criteria using real data with two different states of nature for individuals' actions for the quarantine. Additionally, we present an agricultural insurance problem and analyze the effects of the hailstorm and different speeds of wind on the harvest by the 3D criteria. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that brings 3D matrices in decision and game theories together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we determined the factors that affect the waiting time of rice farmers' willingness to pay the premium for the Rice Farming Insurance Program (RFIP) using survival analysis. The survival analysis method was carried out using the Cox proportional hazard model with the Efron approach. The case study in this research is rice farmers in Cibungur Village, Parungponteng District, Tasikmalaya Regency. The results of the analysis show that the predictor variables that are significant to the waiting time of rice farmers' willingness to pay the insurance premium for RFIP are their last education, other occupations, rice production, and farming costs. The results of the research are expected to produce additional information for the government and implementers of rice farming insurance regarding the condition of farmers in the field, so that it can be improved in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to test whether agricultural insurance significantly impacts farmers' income increase or not. We have used the ordinary least squares method (OLS), panel fixed effects, and system generalized moment estimation (GMM) for the test. The results show that the increase in agricultural insurance density and the increase in agricultural insurance per capita compensation positively impact farmers' income growth significantly. Agricultural insurance density and per capita compensation are the indicators used in this article to measure agricultural insurance development. Therefore, it can be considered that the development of agricultural insurance in Guangdong Province (China) can effectively increase the income level of farmers. Based on the results of theoretical and empirical analysis, combined with the current situation of agricultural insurance development in Guangdong Province, this paper finally puts forward relevant countermeasures and suggestions. It provides some ideas for giving full play to the role of agricultural insurance in promoting farmers' income from the perspectives of pertinent system design, subsidy methods, insurance innovation, service level, and publicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The timely and accurate detection of wheat lodging at a large scale is necessary for loss assessments in agricultural insurance claims. Most existing deep-learning-based methods of wheat lodging detection use data from unmanned aerial vehicles, rendering monitoring wheat lodging at a large scale difficult. Meanwhile, the edge feature is not accurately extracted. In this study, a semantic segmentation network model called the pyramid transposed convolution network (PTCNet) was proposed for large-scale wheat lodging extraction and detection using GaoFen-2 satellite images with high spatial resolutions. Multi-scale high-level features were combined with low-level features to improve the segmentation's accuracy and to enhance the extraction sensitivity of wheat lodging areas in the proposed model. In addition, four types of vegetation indices and three types of edge features were added into the network and compared to the increment in the segmentation's accuracy. The F1 score and the intersection over union of wheat lodging extraction reached 85.31% and 74.38% by PTCNet, respectively, outperforming other compared benchmarks, i.e., SegNet, PSPNet, FPN, and DeepLabv3+ networks. PTCNet can achieve accurate and large-scale extraction of wheat lodging, which is significant in the fields of loss assessment and agricultural insurance claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate models, by accurately forecasting future weather events, can be a critical tool in developing countermeasures to reduce crop loss and decrease adverse effects on animal husbandry and fishing. In this paper, we investigate the efficacy of various regional versions of the climate models, RCMs, and the commonly available weather datasets in Kenya in predicting extreme weather patterns in northern and western Kenya. We identified two models that may be used to predict flood risks and potential drought events in these regions. The combination of artificial neural networks (ANNs) and weather station data was the most effective in predicting future drought occurrences in Turkana and Wajir with accuracies ranging from 78 to 90%. In the case of flood forecasting, isolation forests models using weather station data had the best overall performance. The above models and datasets may form the basis of an early warning system for use in Kenya’s agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apple is the pillar industry of agricultural characteristic economy in Shaanxi province, but it is facing severe weather disasters during the production process, and the agricultural insurance has not effectively dispersed and transferred these risk. The data of apple planting area, production and yield per unit area of 30 base counties in Shaanxi province from 1981 to 2019 were collected, and the mathematical statistical analysis, yield loss distribution models and optimal distribution model screening were used to evaluate and determine the apple planting risk and its insurance premium rate. The results showed that the apple planting area, production and yield per unit area were increased from 1981 to 2019 in Shaanxi province. Luochuan, Liquan and Chunhua had the highest planting area and production, and the average planting area were 2.12×104ha, 2.01×104ha, and 1.94×104ha, the average production were 33.19×104t, 51.26×104t and 34.28×104t respectively from 1981 to 2019. Liquan and Fufeng were characterized by the relatively higher average yield per hectare with 19.71t and 16.89t respectively from 1981 to 2019. The probability of disaster risk was 29.72%, and the mild, medium, severe and extreme disasters were 17.41%, 7.21%, 2.99% and 2.11% respectively for apple planting in Shaanxi province. Yanchuan and Qianyang were prone to extreme disasters with probability of 24.18% and 20.79%. The probability of severe and extreme disasters was negatively correlated to the planting area with the correlation coefficients of -0.50. The average premium rate of apple planting was 5.23% in Shaanxi province, Yanchuan had the highest premium rate of 18.37%, followed by Qianyang (16.61%). Liquan, Luochuan, and Chunhua, the bigger apple-planting counties, had relatively low premium rates of 7.12%, 7.35%, and 8.63% respectively. Therefore, the high risk areas such as Yanchuan and Qianyang should be cautious in "northward expansion", Luochuan, Liquan and Chunhua could be maintained the planting advantages, and the low risk areas such as Fengxiang could be considered in planting expansion. Increasing apple planting in area with low natural disaster risk could effectively spread the risk in space. The differentiated premium rate according to local conditions should be implemented to ensure the scientificity of premium rate and improve the efficiency of agricultural insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates Chinese agricultural insurance agents willingness to offer (WTO) livestock insurance based on the variations of eight main attributes of livestock insurance. Design/methodology/approach: This study implements discrete choice experiments (DCE) with actual insurance agents who design, sell and operate livestock insurance in China. The choice experiment of this study is based on the D-optimal approach, a six-block design, with 15 cards per block and two choices per card. The sample size was 211. Econometrics results are based on conditional and mixed logit models. Findings: The authors find that the subsidy effect is enormous; a one level increase of subsidy leads to 3.166 times higher probability to offer. This subsidy effect is important as it confirms the endogenous structure between price and quantity in insurance offering, where subsidy does not only incentivize demand but also the supply. Another main factor of insurance investigated is the impact of different coverage types on agents' WTO. The authors find that agents prefer mortality insurance the most, followed by revenue insurance and profit insurance, while Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) is the least preferred to offer. Agents' knowledge about these newer types of insurance supports their WTO as well; thus, proper education is necessary to promote the more advanced types of livestock insurance. Research limitations/implications: A limitation is that in the presence of COVID 19, and administrative issues at the local level, the sample was not randomly drawn. Nonetheless, the authors believe that there is enough diversity across participants, insurers and provinces and have done sufficient robustness checks to support results and conclusions. Practical implications: This study provides further validation for the DCE research method that could potentially be applied to different analyses: using choice experiments to study insurers and reveal their preferences, through combinations of various levels of core attributes for insurance products. The findings and contribution are critical to the reform and improvement of livestock insurance in China and for insurance markets more broadly. The authors find that insurers do not place equal weights or values on insurance product attributes and do not view types of insurance equally. In other words, while farmers may hold different preferences about the type of insurance they demand, the results suggest that insurers also hold preferences in the type of insurance they sell. Originality/value: So far as the authors are aware, this is the first DCE designed around the supply of insurance products with the subjects being insurance agents, marketers and executives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the large size of the agricultural sector in Romania, increasing the crop insurance adoption rate and identifying the factors that drive adoption can present a real interest in the Romanian market. The main objective of this research was to identify the performance of machine learning (ML) models in predicting Romanian farmers' purchase of crop insurance based on crop-level and farmer-level characteristics. The data set used contains 721 responses to a survey administered to Romanian farmers in September 2021, and includes both characteristics related to the crop as well as farmer-level socio-demographic attributes, perception about risk, perception about insurers and knowledge about agricultural insurance. Various ML algorithms have been implemented, and among the approaches developed, the Multi-Layer Perceptron Classifier (MLP) and the Linear Support Vector Classifier (SVC) outperform the other algorithms in terms of overall accuracy. Tree-based ensembles were used to identify the most prominent features, which included the farmer's general perception of risk, their likelihood of engaging in risky behaviour, as well as their level of knowledge about crop insurance. The models implemented in this study could be a useful tool for insurers and policymakers for predicting potential crop insurance ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]