Fund for Natural Damage Insurance in Agriculture increased compensation by 60% in the past six years

The climate conference is coming to an end and there is no doubt that world leaders have made many statements about improving the state of global pollution and the war on greenhouse gases and other pollutants on the planet. "Climatic events such as heat waves, which were relatively rare, have become the 'norm' in recent years when this year we also witnessed the nights becoming warmer so the damage to crops was greater than before."
Data from Kent (the Fund for Natural Damage Insurance in Agriculture) show that in the last six years there has been a 60% increase in compensation for farmers compared to the previous six years. The peak was in 2015, when the compensation reached half a billion shekels, and since then every year the fund has distributed compensation at a rate of about 300 million shekels.
At the end of the summer of 2021, the fund will pay farmers NIS 205 million just for the summer months, about half of them due to a shortage of produce. In the fruit industry, the compensation rate reaches NIS 86 million, compared with NIS 46 million the previous summer.
Kent is a government fund common to growers' organizations, and has about 15,000 members. With the publication of data for the summer of 2021, the foundation said that the climate crisis is not an apocalyptic forecast or a theoretical discussion, but a painful reality. In April-October, Kent compensated farmers in Israel with more than NIS 205 million for weather damage, of which more than NIS 100 million as a result of a shortage of agricultural produce. The next ones. "
According to the foundation, most of the damage, about NIS 70 million, was caused as a result of an extreme lack of crop of various summer fruits, including peach, nectarine, pear, plum and apricot. "Most of the damage was caused as a result of the relatively warm winter we went through, and especially with the shortage of cold rations necessary for fruit sprouting. As a result, during the summer we witnessed a steep decline in fruit volume."
Most of the compensation in the area of ​​division was paid to farmers in the Negev, who suffered from a lack of crops as a result of a lack of rains. The volume of the crop was lower than in previous years, and in some plots it was not at all worthwhile to harvest the crops. In addition, the heat wave in April hit the embalming of the olives, resulting in a significant drop in the volume of produce in this industry.
The average premium that farmers pay to the fund is about 2.5% of the insurance coverage of the insured field, depending on the different types of crops. Of these, the state participates on average in about 35% of the payment.
Kent is a government company in partnership with growers' organizations and operates on a non-profit basis. All the company's funds are intended for compensation to farmers and are used as reserves for this purpose.
Kent CEO Shmulik Turgeman said the climate crisis is a daily reality that is hurting Israeli agriculture and various crops. If in the past most of the damage to agricultural crops was in the winter months, and mainly as a result of cold events, then in the past year we have actually witnessed a warm winter that severely damaged crops and led to a dramatic decrease in summer fruit.