Farmers are expected to receive compensation of NIS 200 million for the past 6 months

The Fund for Natural Damage Insurance in Agriculture - Kent published the data on the extent of weather damage caused to farmers in the first half of 2019.
The data show that farmers are expected to receive compensation of only NIS 200 million for the past six months. The data also shows that the highest compensation will be given to vegetable growers, followed by fruit and fruit growers. In Kent, it is added that due to the nature of weather damage to agricultural crops, the final extent of damage can only be determined when the crops reach the packing houses.
In terms of claims filed, there has been a jump of more than 10 percent in the number of claims for weather damage over the past six months. Only last week it was reported that one of the crops whose production is expected to decline following the recent heat waves is the avocado. The Ministry of Agriculture estimated that about 20 percent of the avocado will be lost due to the weather, according to Kant.
The data also show that in the past half year 7,300 Israeli farmers received damage reports, compared to 6,600 in the same period last year. By geographical distribution, it can be seen that more than 3,400 reports were due to weather damage in various crops in the north; More than 2,000 reports in the south of the country; And about 1,800 reports were received from farmers in the center.
The highest compensation will be given to the vegetable growers, but the fruit growers are the ones who complained about the most damage: about 2,300 reports, while the vegetable growers reported about 2,000. More than 700 damage reports were from the citrus growers, about 500 of the flora towers, and more than 260 avocado towers, which probably explains the expected shortage.
Many damages came in the wake of last winter, when rainfall was higher than normal. In addition, according to the data, two exceptional events occurred during the reported period: in April there was a relatively recent storm that included heavy hail and only 1,030 damage reports were received, of which about 70% were in the fruit industry. And in May a heavy heat was recorded with temperatures higher than 40 degrees - leading to 890 damage reports, of which more than 230 reports of avocado infection, and more than 200 reports of damage to various fruit crops and about 190 in citrus.
Most of the damage in the first half of 2019 was absorbed by vegetables - potatoes, onions, tomatoes, watermelons and cucumbers - and the scope of the compensation is expected to reach more than NIS 55 million. The fruit growers are expected to be compensated by NIS 44 million. This is mainly due to damages caused by almond, mango, nectarine, grapefruit, apples, peach, plum and apricot crops. In the field of agricultural animals, compensation will be distributed in the amount of NIS 37 million. Now it is time to see how the market will respond to prices and supply to consumers. Only this morning the TheMarker reported that fruit prices have risen by 40% since 2000 and vegetable prices by 25%.
"In the first half of 2019 we witnessed two extraordinary and unexpected natural phenomena," said Shmulik Turgeman, CEO of Kent. On the one hand, a precipitous winter, well above the multi-year average, and on the other hand, a heat wave that broke records. The farmers have almost no chance of dealing with such phenomena, which unfortunately we will continue to witness because of global warming. There is no other industry in Israel that has to deal with the enormous damage caused by this. Without insurance and monetary compensation, many farms were collapsing, with all that this implies. We will continue to update the insurance plans in accordance with the changing conditions and to assure the farmers an economic backing that will enable them to cope with these damages. "