Evaluation of the crop insurance system in Poland

Abstract

Crop insurance is one way to reduce the risk in agricultural production. The subsidy system used since 2006 aims to increase the area of crops insured against the risk of weather anomalies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the functioning of the crop insurance system subsidized by the State Treasury. The results indicate that this system is not effective. Up to 2018, insurance covered about 3 million ha of crops, compared to about 7 million ha required by law. The sum of payments in the years 2008–2018 amounted to PLN 1.7 billion. The risks most often insured by farmers include: frosts and negative effects of wintering and periodically hail. The attractiveness of subsidized crop insurance is to be increased by increasing the subsidies for 2019 and 2020 to PLN 1.2 and 1.4 billion, respectively. The insufficient area of currently insured crops means that the premiums obtained by insurance companies are smaller than the claims paid, which means that the insurance contracts become deficit and can be withdrawn from the insurers’ offer.