Assessment of crop insurance international practices, policies and technologies as risk mitigation tools in India and Thailand

Crop insurance has significant potential to mitigate risks that individuals and countries are exposed to in light of rising disasters in Asia-Pacific region. The advancement of technologies has facilitated the transition of insurance industry from traditional practices to weather based and/or satellite based crop insurance schemes despite their associated challenges. However, the difference between the insured quantity and the underlying risk called basis risk remains a key challenge for the growth of index based crop insurance products. The study provides an overview of current international practices, policies and technologies relating to the use of crop insurance with case studies of India and Thailand. Both countries are at different stages of adapting index based crop insurance with varying level of support from government. Specifically, weather index insurance is continuously evolving and a combination of technology application and policy up gradation can potentially reduce reliance on subsidy and increase private sector engagement in crop insurance.