Free insurance for anti-poverty projects benefits Nanyang farmers

Despite the unfavorable weather conditions that resulted in a huge decline in shitake production in Xixia county, Nanyang, local farmers have benefited greatly from free insurance now on offer from the Xixia government.

"Thanks to government insurance for mushrooms, I have avoided financial ruin this year," said Zhu Danghua, a shitake farmer in Chongyang town, Xixia.

Due to the government initiative, which is aimed at ensuring the county's poverty alleviation projects are risk free, 150 shitake farmers in Chongyang town, like Zhu, have been able to avoid financial losses.

Xixia county teamed up with the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) to launch a series of special insurance policies for the production of shitake, kiwi fruit, and goat milk.

In 2017, the county invested 1.41 million yuan ($210, 000) in insurance for rural anti-poverty projects, protecting the livelihood of 738 poverty-stricken households, increasing rural incomes and promoting poverty alleviation work.