Before the next conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Bavaria calls for the introduction of state-subsidized drought insurance in Germany. One should "not wait any longer," said the Bavarian Minister of Agriculture Michaela Kaniber (CSU). "The situation with several heat years in a row shows us that we have to react quickly." In neighboring countries such as Austria and France, there are similar systems already co-financed by the state.
The agriculture ministers want to discuss it at the end of September. In principle, a state subsidy for drought insurance has been on the ministers' agenda for more than a year, but so far there is no agreement.
Bavaria's proposal: "50 percent of the insurance contributions come from the federal and state governments - 30 percent from the federal government, 20 from the state, and the other 50 percent is paid by the farmer." Bavaria had started a Federal Council initiative, this is supported by Kanibers information from Baden-Württemberg, in other states, the interest was great.
After the drought in many regions of Germany last year, the hard hit farmers had received about 228 million euros state emergency aid. A so-called multi-risk insurance, which includes the drought, but in Germany close to only a few farmers. The reason: These policies are expensive, as drought is one of the dreaded "cumulative risks": a damage that occurs more frequently, as dryness does not affect individual farmers, but entire areas. The insurance industry then has to make very high claims payments in one fell swoop.