Vietnamese agriculture unviable for insurers

Insurance companies have struggled to provide cover for farmers despite heavy agricultural losses from livestock diseases and damage to cattle and crops during the recent cold snap.

The low temperatures in northern and central Vietnam has damaged more than 100,000 hectares of rice and killed thousands of cattle, according to preliminary statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Development.

Insurance providers however have found the sector unviable because they could not attract farmer clients.

Companies were reluctant to open farming insurance schemes because of the high risk, a Ministry of Industry and Trade official said.

He said farmers weren't interested in insurance because they didn't see the advantage and insurers had not built trust in the sector.

Another expert said it was impractical for insurance opera-tors to contact every rural house-hold with a few head of cattle and a rice paddy.

Farmers were unlikely to comply with the insurers' farming and veterinary regulations concerning cages, vaccinations and food, he said.

A northern Phu Tho Province farmer, Do Ngoc Thanh, said he lost VND15 million (US$940) when 500 chickens died from disease before Tet Lunar New Year.

Thanh said he didn't know where to buy insurance for his livestock and he had received no offers.