Romanian Agriculture Four Times Less Insured Than EU Avg – Ministry Official

Romanian agriculture is four times less insured than the European average, but the agriculture insurance market is on a rising trend given the need for risk management in this sector, especially when it comes to climate change risks.

"Romanian agriculture is four times less insured than the European average," said secretary of state within the Ministry of Agriculture Gheorghe Albu, in a forum on risk management.

He added in the past years the agriculture insurance market has seen a rising trend and will continue to develop, given the need for risk management, especially when it comes to risks caused by climate changes.

Albu mentioned that the development of instruments for this sector should target “complete and complex” policies, which would include a broader area of farmer interests and not just the crops.

The head of the World Bank’s Romanian Office, Benoit Blarel, listed several types of risks involved in agriculture, including the risk of price variation and the risks involved in production.

At the same time, he said farmers can resort to ex-ante strategies to diminish the impact of these risks. These strategies include the diversification of crops and adapting these crops to climate changes, or the use of high-performance seeds.

Blarel said there is a large variety of instruments for risk management, which could be combined with investments in irrigation systems and high-performance seeding material.