With natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic affecting business significantly, many farmers in the Tohoku region are hedging against risk by opting to purchase farmers income insurance, which makes up for losses to their earnings.
The insurance covers nearly all agricultural products as well as losses resulting from a wide range of circumstances such as lower yields due to typhoons and heavy rain, falling market prices, bankruptcy of business partners and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The prefectural governments and agricultural cooperatives of Akita, Aomori, Miyagi, Iwate, Fukushima and Yamagata are encouraging farmers to purchase the insurance policy.