JEONNAM-GWANGJU — "The climate is changing fast, but the current insurance system does not adequately capture the damage farmers are experiencing."
That criticism of coverage gaps in crop disaster insurance rang out in the main chamber of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City Council.
The council said on the 13th that Choi Myung-soo, a council member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Naju's second district, argued at the first session of policy questioning since the launch of the integrated special city, held the previous day, that the climate crisis has become part of daily life for farmers while the insurance system remains tied to past standards.
Citing pear growers in Naju, the council member said damage from low temperatures, extreme heat, sunburn and fruit drop keeps recurring, yet the scope of coverage and the methods used to assess damage fail to reflect farmers' actual losses. Choi called in particular for broader coverage of heat wave damage, and stressed the need to improve the timing and methods of assessment so that sunburn damage, whose symptoms appear only after harvest, can also be included in surveys and compensation.
The council member also took issue with the criteria used to calculate payouts.
Standards that farmers have repeatedly asked to be revised — including the average fruit count in a normal year, the damage ratio for dropped fruit, the level of compensation for incidents before fruit thinning ends, and the deductible rate — should all be reviewed, Choi said.
Choi also raised the issue of "micro-cracking," in which fine cracks form on the surface of pears because of abnormal weather. Even when the fruit loses its market value, a lack of insurance compensation can lead to lower farm income and higher debt, the council member said.
Choi called for a survey of micro-cracking damage and for practical measures to reduce farm losses, such as purchasing non-standard fruit.
Virus damage at melon farms in Naju also came up during the questioning. Choi urged the city to quickly determine the scale and causes of the damage and to swiftly prepare support measures to help affected farms restore their operations. The council member also stressed the need to strengthen support for prevention and pest control so that the same damage does not recur.
In response, Son Myung-do, director general of the agriculture, livestock and food bureau at Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City, said, "We will continue to petition the central government so that crop disaster insurance reflects the changing patterns of disaster damage and farm operating losses can be minimized, and we will work together with farmers and producer groups until it is reflected in the system."
He added, "Thanks to continued petitioning, damage from unpredictable disasters such as typhoons has been excluded from premium surcharges starting this year, and pests and diseases affecting rice have been included in general coverage without a special rider. Next year, the government plans to create a government-backed mutual aid program (insurance-like coverage) for items that are not currently covered, such as subtropical crops and strawberry seedlings."