Problems in Agricultural Insurance System in Turkey and Seeking Alternative

The Agricultural Insurance Law (No. 5363) was enacted in 2005 to ensure the risks threatening the agriculture sector. An insurance pool has been established on the basis of this law which targets to support to producers who have agricultural insurance. The government subsidies 50% of the premium rate in general while 66.7% in frost risk. The main objective of the study is to develop policy recommendations for the extensification of agricultural insurance in Turkey. In this context, Hayrabolu, Malkara and Süleymanpa？a districts of Tekirda？ province were selected as research areas. In the light of data obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, a sampling frame of 16,771 producers has been established. The Proportional Sampling method was used to calculate the number of producers to be interviewed. The problems encountered by producers who have agricultural insurance and the reasons why non-insured producers have not, were analyzed with frequency distribution charts, and the vision of producers on innovative insurance products was revealed by scoring test through data obtained from the questionnaires conducted with 192 producers. Problems encountered in the agricultural insurance system are: lack of expert capacity with sufficient knowledge, inaccurate damage detection, rude behavior of the experts and high cost of insurance. In conclusion, income insurance is an alternative model for extensification of the agricultural insurance. The elimination of problems related to the experts expressed by the producers, clarification of some issues on the functioning of the insurance system and calculating the amount of insurance premiums in such a way as to meet the expectations of the producers based on actuarial studies are the main factors that will increase the number of producers having agricultural insurance. The state subsidy provided for insurance premiums should be maintained at minimum 50%, and even more, if the state resources are available, increasing state support will increase the insurance rate