Serious agricultural natural disaster losses are caused by severe climate changes. Therefore, the Council of Agriculture (COA) launched the trial agricultural insurance program in 2015 with initial coverage on top-grafted pear only. This year (in 2016) the insurance scheme is expanded to cover all types of pear. Also, the development of insurance for mango has been completed and started to be sold in places of production. Insurance packages for other items such as rice yield, agricultural facilities, sugar apple revenue, and aquaculture, among others are being planned for trial operation in due days. The goal is to effectively reduce business risks for farmers and the industry through the insurance scheme, thus removing weather conditions from the equation. In this way, farmers may be properly compensated their agricultural managing loss when agricultural natural disaster occurs.

　　The COA stated that the farmers participating in the insurance scheme were eligible to receive premium subsidies provided by the Council. For instance, the COA grants subsidy that covers one thirds of the pear premium, while local governments such as Taichung City, Yilan County, and Hsinchu County cover another one thirds of the premium. Moreover, the Council also informed The Non-Life Insurance Association(NLIA) that the COA would provide all necessary assistance and relevant statistical data to member companies of NLIA should they present interest in developing other agricultural insurance products.

　　The COA further explained that the agricultural insurance system from other countries, domestic trial results, and industry-academic-government feedbacks are being used as references for the development of agricultural insurance system in Taiwan, as well as the draft of the Agricultural Insurance Law to serve as the legal basis for the universal implementation of agricultural insurance in the future.

　　The COA emphasized that in order to familiarize farmers with the content of pear and mango insurances, explanatory seminars were held between October and November this year at farmers' associations in major pear and mango production places. Furthermore, the Council requested that all direct-controlled municipality, city, and county governments to encourage local farmers to join the insurance and offer them necessary assistance. Farmers interested in the insurance scheme can contact local farmers' associations for more detail.