Mahdi Saravani; Ahmad Ebrahimi
Abstract
Because of the agricultural sector's importance in the national economy, and because it accounts for 17 percent of GDP and 22 percent of job labor, it is critical to support it as much as possible. Agricultural product insurance is one of the most important governmental support levers in the agricultural ...
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Because of the agricultural sector's importance in the national economy, and because it accounts for 17 percent of GDP and 22 percent of job labor, it is critical to support it as much as possible. Agricultural product insurance is one of the most important governmental support levers in the agricultural sector. It not only compensates farmers for the losses caused by the small savings of a large number of farmers, but it also provides more security for agricultural producers, lowering production risks significantly. So, in this study, we attempted to use positive mathematical programming (PMP) to examine the effects of introducing wheat insurance on wheat cultivation and farmer gross margins in the Sistan region. These farmers were divided into three groups based on the size of their cultivated farms: (1) small group (less than 3 hectares), (2) average-sized group (4-10 hectares), and (3) large group (more than 10 hectares). The results showed that after introducing wheat insurance, the farmer accepted it, and the cultivated area of wheat increased from 2 hectares to 2.01 hectares, while the farm's gross return increased from 18423290 Rials to 18511721 Rials, i.e., 0.479 percent more than those farmers who did not participate in the insurance scheme. On average-sized farms, implementing this insurance increased wheat cultivated area from 4.8 hectares to 4.858 hectares, and farm gross return increased from 48803550 Rials to 49291580 Rials, i.e., about 1% more than farmers who did not participate in the scheme. Following this plan, the cultivated area of wheat increased from 16 hectares to 16.445 hectares, and the farm's gross return increased from 139151140 Rials to 142421200 Rials, a 2.35 percent increase over those who did not participate in the scheme.
