Abstract
Punjab is Pakistan’s largest province and has the largest share in national agricultural production including food staples. Wheat production and a large swathe of the cultivated area of other crops have been devastated by first the heatwave and then heavy flooding in July-August 2022. The estimated loss from the recent floods is around US$ 32 billion. Pakistan is the seventh most affected by climate change. Due to heat wave in the months of March and April, the production of wheat, the major staple crop, declined by 0.8 million tons as compared to last year and the average yield decreased by 1.4% per acre. Resultantly, Pakistan had to import wheat from the international market to fulfill its domestic needs. In the months of July and August, Punjab province received extraordinarily heavy rainfall that damaged around 654,000 acres (264,664 hectares) of cultivated crops posing a cumulative loss of USD 362 million in loss of crop only. These extreme events have created a need for a comprehensive crop and livestock insurance program because the governments alone cannot manage post-disaster losses. Under the crop insurance program, the Government of Punjab has compensated 83,502 insured cotton growers for the yield losses due to massive rains and floods with US$ 3.3 million through insurance companies. The crop insurance program in Punjab based on Area Yield Index is an example of how these kinds of risk management tools can lessen the financial burden of the government and provide much-needed financial support to the most vulnerable rural communities.
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Crop Insurance, Climate Change, Heat Wave, Floods, Area Yield Index
